


FF7 100 Themes Challenge

by septasonicxx



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Comfort, Crack, Friendship, Humour, Other, Pranks, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-01
Updated: 2016-01-01
Packaged: 2018-05-10 20:15:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 51
Words: 45,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5599390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/septasonicxx/pseuds/septasonicxx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Back in 2009, I posted a whole lot of fics on ffnet based on the 100 themes challenge. I never got through every single one, but here's what I did do, posted in the order of the 100 themes challenge, not in the order than I wrote them.</p><p>Involves a lot of Cloud, Zack, Sephiroth, Genesis, Angeal, and humour. I think. I'm going off my memory right now. I haven't read over these in a while.</p><p>I've also included a contents page at the beginning, so you can see if there's anything you're interested in reading without having to search every single chapter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Contents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The full list of 100 themes. 
> 
> I have bolded my favourite ones.
> 
> In italics are the ones I never wrote, so you can skip past them.

**1\. Introduction**

  * **My idea of how Reno came to being a Turk and Rude's partner. (Story continued in themes 41 and 62.)**



2\. Love

  * Cissnei's birthday rolls around and no one seems to remember or care. Genesis/Cissnei



3\. Light

  * Cissnei and Genesis wait for the sun to come out behind the clouds again. Set during the time when Genesis left ShinRa. Cissnei found him.



_4\. Dark_

5\. Seeking Solace

  * Genesis is missing from his class, and when found what is he found with? LOVELESS of course.



_6\. Break Away_

_7\. Heaven_

8\. Innocence

  * Hinted Genesis/Aerith.



9\. Drive

  * Genesis really loves LOVELESS. Genesis/Cissnei.



_10\. Breathe Again_

**11\. Memory**

  * **Fathers were strung around his life like a spider web and he therefore found himself, on days such as this, wondering why he couldn't have been closer to his own. Cloud Strife centric.**



12\. Insanity

  * Cloud doesn't want to face the truth of Zack and Aerith being dead. He hallucinates Zack. Tifa wants to help.



**13\. Misfortune**

  * **This is actually the second part of '95. Advertisement'. Sephiroth sets off to embarrass Genesis but the tables turn quite drastically. Who's up for a photo shoot? Zack is, apparently.**



_14\. Smile_

_15\. Silence_

**16\. Questioning**

  * **Genesis needs time to think after discovering his wing, but only questions come to mind, not answers. He needs the help of his two best friends, Angeal and Sephiroth, to get him through this rough time.**



_17\. Blood_

18\. Rainbow

  * Sephiroth finds a Rainbow Robe/Dress in the bag of a dead Wutai soldier. He then manages to convince Genesis to wear it and gets a photo.



_19\. Gray_

**20\. Fortitude**

  * **Cloud and the other grunts are sent out in the snow and have to make their way to a checkpoint with only a compass and a gun. Cloud gets separated.**



_21\. Vacation_

_22\. Mother Nature_

23\. Cat

  * Cloud knows the rule of no pets at ShinRa, but the kitten was lost and needed a home! ...or was it?



_24\. No Time_

25\. Trouble Lurking

  * My attempt at a sadistic one-shot about the remnants Kadaj, Loz and Yazoo for MemoriesofWar on deviantart.



26\. Tears

  * All Sephiroth wanted was to get a haircut with no distractions. But Lazard wants to see him and someone else is shocked to meet him at the hair salon...



_27\. Foreign_

_28\. Sorrow_

29\. Happiness

  * Zack thinks Angeal has given him a rabbit for his birthday. He is mistaken.



30\. Under the Rain

  * Today is the day Cloud leaves for Midgar. It's raining. Cloud/Tifa



31\. Flowers

  * Sephiroth has recently been to the labs and is now feeling quite strange. Happy, even. Is this a good thing? "Would you like me to braid your hair?"



_32\. Night_

_33\. Expectations_

_34\. Stars_

35\. Hold My Hand

  * Young Cloud is terrified of storms, and needs his mum to comfort him so he can sleep.



36\. Precious Treasure

  * Sephiroth thinks Rufus had something to do with it, but then Zack comes along with a rather familiar sounding story... run, Zack, run!



_37\. Eyes_

38\. Abandoned

  * Cloud watched his father walk out of his life.



39\. Dreams

  * Cissnei makes a drastic decision that will change her future. But she'll never regret it. Not even for a second. Genesis/Cissnei



_40\. Rated_

**41\. Teamwork**

  * **Follows on from '1. Introduction' and is then followed by '62. Magic'.**

**Reno learns to assimilate as a Turk and really enjoys using an EMR.**




42\. Standing Still

  * Rufus arrives at the ShinRa Headquarters in Midgar to find his father dead.



_43\. Dying_

_44\. Two Roads_

_45\. Illusion_

46\. Family

  * Genesis Rhapsodos doesn't feel he belongs to his family. He tries to run away and the black feathery thing we love him for is discovered.



**47\. Creation**

  * **Genesis discovers his wing.**



48\. Childhood

  * Mrs Strife should know better than to do Cloud's hair for him. A young Cloud in this one!



_49\. Stripes_

50\. Breaking the Rules

  * AU High School situation. Genesis and Minerva get framed for things they didn't do and both end up in detention together. Yuffie's behind it...



_51\. Sport_

52\. Deep in Thought

  * Genesis thinks Sephiroth's office is empty and wonders why he isn't in there working. A little investigating soon answers that question. Sephiroth has a new pastime...



53\. Keeping a Secret

  * Cissnei gets a text message from Genesis to meet up, but she's busy on the day. Will she be able to free up her schedule for him?



54\. Tower

  * The Knight in shining armor has to rescue the damsel in distress. "Cloud! Cloud watch my washing!" Cloud/Tifa



_55\. Waiting_

_56\. Danger Ahead_

_57\. Sacrifice_

_58\. Kick in the Head_

**59\. No Way Out**

  * **Cloud just wanted to do his hair without being teased. Where would be the best place? The cubicle in the bathroom. Where is he at the end of the day? ...the very same bathroom. Why? Read to find out!**



60\. Rejection

  * Genesis finally goes to find Cissnei and ask her out. She says she's... busy. Seph and Angeal try to cheer him up with apple pie. Genesis/Cissnei



61\. Fairy Tale

  * Sephiroth doesn't tap. Some members of the Silver Elite are more innocent than others... but they all seem to love camera's.



**62\. Magic**

  * **Follows on from '1. Introduction' and '41. Teamwork'.**

**Reno learns how to pilot a helicopter. Or, he just does it. Who knows how.**




63\. Do Not Disturb

  * Sephiroth is suffering from lack of food. Zack is not helping.



64\. Multitasking

  * Genesis is being Genesis. As usual. Seph gets him to prove he can multitask. Genesis proves it.



65\. Horror

  * A day in the life of Sephiroth - with a twist.



_66\. Traps_

_67\. Playing the Melody_

_68\. Hero_

69\. Annoyance

  * Sephiroth hops onto his laptop and gets a... surprise to say the least. Genesis has been at it again. Poor Seph. Funded by the Silver Elite.



_70\. 67%_

_71\. Obsession_

72\. Mischief Managed

  * Genesis gets back to his apartment to find something he wasn't expecting. What on earth is a chocobo doing there?



_73\. I Can't_

_74\. Are You Challenging Me?_

_75\. Mirror_

_76\. Broken Pieces_

77\. Test

  * One of the things Sephiroth had to endure while he was younger, because of who he is. Hojo is stupid.



78\. Drink

  * Zack wants to go drinking. He needs a drinking buddy. Everyone's busy. Poor Zack...



_79\. Starvation_

_80\. Words_

_81\. Pen and Paper_

_82\. Can You Hear Me?_

83\. Heal

  * She hid herself away so that she could die in peace. But she can't walk and now that she knows there's a cure for geostigma, she wants to be found.



_84\. Out Cold_

_85\. Spiral_

86\. Seeing Red

  * What has Hojo done that's gotten Sephiroth this angry? Sephiroth is a drama king?



87\. Food

  * Genesis is trapped and hungry.



88\. Pain

  * Zack takes Cloud to get his ear pierced, whilst educating his friend on which is the proper ear for straight guys to pierce on the way there.



89\. Through the Fire

  * Sephiroth on his rampage in Nibelheim. He encounters a civilian and deals with them...



_90\. Triangle_

_91\. Drowning_

92\. All That I Have

  * Young Gen and Angeal Something has been bothering Genesis, so he decides to ask Angeal about it. A misunderstanding, that's all. Genesis/Angeal friendship.



_93\. Give Up_

_94\. Last Hope_

95\. Advertisement

  * Genesis is a pretty boy. Continued in '13. Misfortune'.



_96\. In the Storm_

_97\. Safety First_

98\. Puzzle

  * One of Sephiroth's talents.



_99\. Solitude_

_100\. Relaxation_

 


	2. Contents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My idea of how Reno came to being a Turk and Rude's partner.

The teenage boy spat his cigarette onto the ground and stepped on it with his shoe, grounding it into the dirt. His spiky red hair had been shoved into a ponytail, with some of the front bits sticking over his blue eyes. He stared at the door in front of him and then grinned, shoving it open and walking inside like he owned the place.

The room was crowded. People everywhere shoved past each other in order to move around and get to their own tables. They all chatted with their friends and laughter was the loudest thing that the teenage boy could hear above the talk.

He was at his first bar.

He was under age.

And he couldn't care less.

Making his way over to the front of the room, he managed to fit right in with the crowd as he shoved some people out of his way and shot dirty looks at people who refused to move. He sat on a stool at the bench and slammed his fist down, demanding attention from the bartender.

"What d'ya want?" The bartender drawled, raising an eyebrow at the scrawny kid perched on the stool.

"Something strong, yo," the teenager said, shifting back on his seat slightly to get a better look at everyone else in the room. The bartender moved off to get him a drink and soon set something in front of him.

"You gonna b'come a regular here?" he asked.

"Sure am, yo." The teenager nodded once, still letting his eyes wander around the room. He was taking in everything; the people, the layout, the stench, the noise; everything he could sense he was cataloguing in his mind for future reference.

"You got a name with 'at face?" The bartender moved to hand another drink to someone else and then turned back, tilting his head and waiting for an answer.

"Reno." The red-head turned to look at the bartender finally, his blue eyes piercing through him with an unspoken warning. In that instant, the bartender knew it would be a bad idea to mess with this boy.

"Nice t' meet ya," yhe bartender said, choosing that moment to walk off and pay attention to some other customers. Reno watched him shuffle away awkwardly and then continued observing the room. He would need to know where the escape routes were too.

Picking up his drink, he took a sip. The liquid burned his throat as it went down and he frowned slightly in distaste. But he had told himself he would go through with this and he planned on keeping to his silent promise. So he sipped some more and ignored the feeling it gave him, continuing to watch as people went about their business in the bar.

He felt a bit like an intruder, and it made him feel smug. No one could kick him out, because honestly no one cared about under age people drinking nowadays. He was safe in here, and he could find out secrets that his friends weren't brave enough to.

The door to the bar opened again, and in an instant Reno had stood up and started heading to the back with his drink in his hand. His heart leapt with excitement as he sat down at an empty table in the back corner and watched what was happening.

The Turks that had entered did not look friendly. In fact, they had come in with their weapons out and were now talking to the bartender with solemn expressions. Reno noticed that the room had gone quiet. The only sound now was the murmur of voices at the front of the room and a few coughs from the people sitting down. Everyone seemed to be waiting to find out what was going on.

Then the voices grew louder and Reno managed to hear a few words.

"We know he's here."

Reno took another sip of his drink and leant forward slightly, interested in what was going on. Who were they looking for? Some other people had started whispering and a word that was spoken near him caught his attention. _Avalanche_.

"I don't know who yer talkin' 'bout." The bartender shook his head and glanced around the room nervously. The Turk right across from him reached out and grabbed him by the collar, lifting him off the ground and shoving their faces close together.

"Tell me where he is or I'll kill you," he threatened. The bartender struggled, his fear evident in his eyes as he glanced towards the door at the side of the room which lead into the other rooms of the building.

"I don't-"

The man yelped and jerked around as the Turk holding him shoved his Electro-Mag Rod into his side. Reno's eyes widened in interest. That thing looked cool. Where would he be able to get one? Surely some underground group would have some.

"Perhaps you'd like to try again." The Turk brought his weapon back and waited, ignoring the room full of people that were witnessing this horrible scene.

"He's... he's upstairs," the bartender whimpered, slumping to the ground as he was let go. The Turks instantly headed towards the door which the bartender had glanced at before, intent on finding whoever it was they were searching for.

Before they could get there, the door opened and a man stood there, an unconscious girl in his arms.

"There he is! Grab him!" The Turk at the front of the group ordered, rushing forward and trying to grab the man. He slipped past, managing to get beyond some of the tables before he had to stop because of the weight of the girl. He now had a fair amount of people in between himself and the Turks.

"Leave us alone!" he yelled, angry.

"You know we can't do that. We have to stop you," the main Turk said, slowly stepping towards him. "Unless you come willingly, everyone in this room will die." With a simple hand signal, two Turks headed to the exit door to block it off.

Reno watched as the shoulders of the man slumped slightly in defeat. Who was he? And who was the girl he was carrying?

"You'd kill innocent people..." the man mumbled, shaking his head sadly.

"Their lives are in your hands," the Turk said sincerely. He reached to the nearest person and pulled them up into standing, shoving his weapon near them to re-enforce his words with actions. Their eyes were wide with fear, staring at the man pleadingly but too frightened to speak unless the Turk decided to kill him on the spot.

"If I come, will you leave her alone?" the man asked.

"No promises." The Turk smirked.

The man closed his eyes momentarily, trying to gather some more strength. He glanced around again then, his gaze lingering on the doors and windows. Reno could tell instantly what he was considering.

"I won't let you hurt her," the man said finally.

"Then it's her life for all the ones in this room." The Turk slammed the Electro-Mag Rod into his victims head and then dropped him, only glancing down to step over the lifeless body.

Reno downed the rest of his drink in a single gulp, feeling the adrenaline rushing through his veins. He was _not_ going to let these guys kill him. No way!

"You know, maybe you should just let 'em go, yo." Reno slowly rose to his feet, glaring at the Turk who was in charge. All eyes went to him and he smirked, reaching a hand up to push a bit of red hair back off his face.

"What's a kid doing in a bar?" the Turk asked, a look of disgust appearing on his face.

"Felt like it, yo," Reno replied, shrugging. "But let 'em go or you'll hafta go through me too."

The man holding the girl was also staring at Reno, his eyes wide in shock that this _kid_ was sticking up for him. Or maybe he was just so scared that he wasn't thinking about what it was he was doing and just wanted to save himself. Then again, there was also the possibility that he was drunk, seeing as he was at a bar.

Reaching under his suit jacket, the Turk in charge pulled out a gun. Reno's eyes lit up as he saw the extra danger that had been added to the situation.

"You gonna put a hole through me, yo?" Reno chuckled.

"If I have to," the Turk said simply. Reno slowly began making his way towards him, his smirk remaining firm on his face.

"Ya know, I don't like that idea. 'Cause it ends with me dying, yo." He shrugged again and then paused, having made it all the way to the man's side without actually being shot yet.

"You're crazy, don't make him mad," the man begged, obviously not wanting anyone to get hurt.

"My life, my choice," Reno said. "Who are you anyway, yo? Why d' they want you?"

"He's a member of Avalanche," the Turk said for the man.

"Dude, he's got a tongue. Let him talk," Reno snapped. The Turk narrowed his eyes and took yet another step forward.

"He's right. I'm part of Avalanche," the man said softly.

"And her? Who's she?" Reno asked. The man shifted uncomfortably and Reno sighed, shaking his head. "Forget it," he said.

"She's from ShinRa. This man kidnapped her and won't give her back," the Turk said, again answering for the man.

"They were torturing her!" the man exclaimed.

"You had no business in it!" the Turk took more steps forward.

"She would've died if I hadn't gotten her out of there! You people disgust me!" The man spat the words out and Reno noticed a fire in his eyes that had been extinguished before light up again.

"Sickos," Reno mumbled.

"I'm seriously thinking about shooting you," the Turk warned.

"Go ahead! I don't care one bit, yo!" Reno raised his eyebrows in a challenge and the Turk tensed his jaw, taking aim. He was _not_ going to be shown up by a _kid_!

"Sir, with all due respect," He turned angrily to look at who had spoken to him, and glared at the young bald man.

"What?" he snapped.

The bald man stepped forward. He couldn't be more than nineteen. "Would you like me to take him out for you?"

"Actually, I'd like to put a bullet through his head myself," the Turk replied angrily.

"Why don'tcha let baldy have a few minutes of fame, yo?" Reno chuckled again, staring at the bald man who was also staring at him.

"He takes orders from me," the Turk said.

"And you take orders from someone too. I don't really care, yo. Just let him have a go at me," Reno pressed on.

"Sir, I won't let you down," the bald man said.

"I'm not worried about that, you're the best man we've got!" the Turk said. "I just want to do it myself!"

"What, you're jealous? C'mon, just make your guys promise to say it was you, yo," Reno suggested, trying to be helpful. The Turk frowned and turned to the men standing right near him, whispering to them. Reno smirked and turned to the man beside him.

"What are you doing?" the man whispered.

"Gettin' you outta here, yo," Reno whispered back. "Now stop dawdling and get your butt over to that window. You'll have about five seconds."

"They'll see me," the man protested.

"I'll distract 'em," Reno said. "Just _go_."

The man glanced at the Turks again and then hurried over to the window, passing all the people who still sat at the tables.

"Hey! Stop him!" the main Turk fired a shot with his gun, but it connected with a plate that had been thrown at precisely the right moment, shattering in the air and raining down on the floor. Reno smirked and darted forward, another plate in his hand as he leapt at the Turk.

"Take this, yo!" he yelled as he smashed the plate over the man's head. He then jumped back and grabbed another object from a table, swinging his arm to throw it at another Turk. His arm stopped halfway, however, as it connected with someone's stomach. In that instant Reno thought he'd hit someone who'd simply been caught in the crossfire. Taking another look however, he was pleased to see that it was in fact the bald man.

"You should be more careful than that." Reno's happiness faded as he noticed the bald man seemed unaffected by the hit, and it disappeared altogether as his arm was twisted up behind him and his face was slammed down onto a table.

"Hey, let go!" Reno squirmed, trying to get free. The bald man was not letting go. "I'm just a kid! You win, yo!"

"I want him dead!" Brushing remains of the glass plate out of his hair, the Turk staggered over to them and shoved his gun against Reno's temple. "I want you dead. I'll have you dead. Do you hear me?"

Reno closed his eyes tightly, shuddering as the cold barrel of the gun was pressed harder against his head.

"He's just a kid."

"I want him dead!"

"He's just a kid."

"I'm gonna shoot him in the frickin' head!"

"He's a child. Like Liam."

Reno blinked his eyes open as he felt the gun leave his head, looking up at where the Turk was now staggering backwards, horror in his own eyes.

"My son... I was going to kill someone like my son..." he was muttering.

"You didn't," the bald man said.

"Shut up!" the Turk pointed a finger at his companion and then spun around, leaving the bar. The bald man allowed Reno to stand back up, but kept a firm hold on his arms.

"We'll take you back to ShinRa," he was saying. Reno blinked his eyes again and shook his head to clear his thoughts. What was going on? Why wasn't he dead? "They'll decide on your punishment then."

"Rude, hurry up!" The Turk's voice shouted from outside and the bald man pushed Reno out the door. "He's gonna be a Turk, Rude. Just like us."

"Sir?" Rude questioned, still holding Reno.

"If he hates us so much, then I'll have fun watching him hate himself. Come on!"

The Turks loaded up into their vehicle, with Rude sitting next to Reno in the back. Reno was still trying to figure out what was going on. Why was everything around him spinning?

Then he remembered the drink he'd had.

_Oh great. Just great, yo. At the most crucial moment I gotta have the effects of my drink kick in so I can't even escape. Great, yo._

The last words that Reno heard while he was in the back of the truck were the words of the Turk he'd hit with a plate. "You seem to control him pretty well, Rude. He can be your partner."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This short story continues in chapters 41 and 62.


	3. 2. Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cissnei's birthday rolls around and no one seems to remember or care. Genesis/Cissnei.

Cissnei walked slowly up the front steps of the apartment where she was currently staying, searching in her bag for the keys to her door. She had just managed to grab the key chain which her key was kept on and looped her finger through it to pull it up out of her bag when someone leaped out in front of her from the shadows.

"Boo!" the person yelled, startling her and succeeding in getting a squeak from her as she stumbled backwards and lost her keys once again.

"Reno!" Cissnei scolded angrily, narrowing her eyes as she recognised the face and red hair of one of her friends from work. "What are you doing here?" she added.

"What do you think, yo? I got bored." He shrugged, moving to the side and slipping his arm through hers, dragging her around and walking her back down the stairs to the street again.

"What are you doing, Reno?" Cissnei asked with a sigh.

"I wanted to look at the stars with someone!" he exclaimed with a dreamy sigh. "Isn't this romantic?"

Cissnei stared at him sideways and blinked slowly a few times, wondering what had happened to him and whether he had recently taken a particularly hard blow to the head from Rude. It _was_ possible.

"Are you drunk?" she asked with a frown.

"Of course not! Anyway, here, I'll help you get into your apartment now seeing as you _obviously_ don't want to stay out here with me, yo." Reno sighed dramatically and grabbed her bag from her, darting back up the stairs and inside.

With a groan, Cissnei followed.

She found Reno shoving her key into her door and turning it, swiftly unlocking it and shoving it open before stepping back and grinning stupidly. She walked past him, grabbing her bag as she did so, before throwing it onto her table.

"Keys?" she said, turning back to Reno and raising her eyebrows expectantly, holding a hand out.

"Why do you live in such a shabby apartment?" Reno asked, his eyes roaming around the room curiously.

"I prefer to keep my wealth under wraps," she replied, folding her arms. "This way I fit in more."

"Pfft, who wants to fit in, yo?" Reno scoffed. He shook his head, shoved his hands into pockets and walked out of the room.

Cissnei let out a sigh and sat down on her chair, putting her head in her hands. She would never understand Reno. _Never_.

With a sudden frustrated and slightly strangled sounding groan, Cissnei slammed a hand down onto her table as she realised Reno had left with her keys.

The _nerve_ of some people!

More accurately – the nerve of _Reno_!

Pulling out her phone, she flipped up the lid and began searching through her list of contacts for Reno so that she could send him a message to bring her keys back _at once_.

Just as she was about to select his name, however, her phone gave a small buzz and she flinched.

Quickly manoeuvring out of the contact list, she went to her new message and opened it up, interested as to who was sending her a message now. If it was Reno bragging about having her keys she would rip his head off the next time they spoke.

It was from Genesis.

_Ciss, how was work?_

Short and sweet. Just a small message to let her know he was thinking about her and wanted to know how she was. She couldn't help but smile, a warm feeling spreading throughout her and making her feel as through she must be glowing.

She quickly typed a reply, saying, _Work was fine, Reno was –_ is _– annoying and I'm tired. How was your day?_

Cissnei sat there in her apartment with her phone in her hand and continued to trade text messages with Genesis for a good half hour before they both decided it was time to call it a night. All thoughts of Reno stealing her keys were gone from her mind and she only remembered the next day – to find them sitting on her table as if she had left them there herself the night before.

When she left work that day and headed home she tried to keep a smile on her face but found it becoming harder and harder. Today was her birthday and hardly any of her friends had shown up for work. Not even Reno had been there to jump out at her and sing 'happy birthday' really loudly and off-key.

In fact, the friends of hers who _had_ shown up hadn't said anything about her birthday and left early, having finished all their work and getting to go early because Tseng allowed them too.

So as she neared her apartment, the smile once on her face was gone and she dragged her feet slightly. Genesis hadn't even messaged her to tell her happy birthday.

Pulling her keys out from her bag as she walked up the steps, she made her way in to her door and opened it up, slipping inside before shutting the door behind her again and flicking the light on.

"Surprise!"

Cissnei slapped a hand to her mouth and backed into the door, eyes wide in fright and heart beating quickly in her chest. In front of her were all her friends, all smiling at her hugely. There were streamers around the room and a few balloons here and there. Her table was covered in food and presents and she couldn't believe what was happening.

"Oh my gosh," she whispered.

Reno stepped forward and hugged her tightly before steering over to join everyone, who then all said happy birthday to her.

"Did we get you?" Reno asked excitedly.

"Yes!" Cissnei squeaked. "I had no idea!"

"Why else do you think we all got off work early, or in _Reno's_ case took the whole day off?" Elena asked from the side, smiling at Cissnei.

"You took the day off to do this?" Cissnei exclaimed, eyebrows shooting up.

"Yep." Reno nodded and shrugged. "And before you ask how I got into your apartment, I stole your keys last night and made a copy so I could use it to get in. Don't worry, you can have it later so that I never sneak into your room again."

Cissnei laughed and shook her head, amused at Reno and not finding it very hard to believe that Reno had actually done that.

"Cissnei," someone said softly from behind her and she quickly turned around, her smile becoming even wider if that was possible and before she could help herself she had moved forward and hugged Genesis.

"I love you!" she said, before blushing crimson and stepping away from him, looking down at the ground and fidgeting with her hands. Adrenaline raced through her veins and she wished she could have been able to keep her mouth shut.

A finger gently touched her chin to lift her head up and Genesis smiled down into her eyes. "I love you too."

"You know, Genesis was the one who came up with the idea to have a surprise party in the first place," Reno said from behind her, obviously not wanting to be left out of the conversation even though if he was anyone else he would have known not to interrupt.

"You did?" Cissnei asked Genesis, eyes bright with happiness.

"I wanted it to be special for you," Genesis said. "I hope you like it."

"I love it!" Cissnei said quickly, biting her lip after she had. Genesis chuckled and put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into him for a side hug.

"Do you want something to eat, or do you want to open a few presents now, or what?" he asked her.

"Did you get me a present?" she asked.

"Well... yes," Genesis said, hesitating only slightly. Cissnei looked at him curiously but he only smiled mischievously and led her over to where the presents were piled on the table. He picked one up and handed it to her.

"This is from you?" she asked to confirm and began opening it once he had nodded.

She pulled off the wrapping paper and then opened the plain brown box to see what was inside of it. Pulling out the object, she gasped quietly as she set her eyes on the book she had been wanting for a while but hadn't been able to find in any shops.

"That's only part of it," Genesis said quietly, shuffling his feet nervously.

"What do you mean?" Cissnei asked, looking up at him and smiling again.

"Here's the second part of your present," Genesis said, pausing for a moment to glance over her face before bending slightly and pressing his lips against hers.

Cissnei's eyes fluttered closed and she slowly put an arm around his neck, kissing him back gently and softly.

"Whoo! What a birthday!" Reno exclaimed happily from across the room and they both blushed, moving away from each other again.

Cissnei carefully put her book back in the box Genesis had put it in and then put it back with the rest of the gifts. Genesis slipped an arm around her waist and bent down to her ear, breathing against it gently for a moment.

"Happy birthday, Princess," he whispered and she giggled, turning to hug him again.

She couldn't have asked for a more perfect birthday.

 


	4. 3. Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cissnei and Genesis wait for the sun to come out behind the clouds again. Set during the time when Genesis left ShinRa. Cissnei found him.

It was cold. The wind whistled through the trees softly and reached out its icy fingers to claw at the people sitting under a tree, shivering and holding their arms around themselves tightly. They hadn't spoken for quite a while, neither knowing what to say. It had been a while since they'd been able to strike up a normal conversation since circumstances had thrown them into this dark and foreboding forest.

The girl reached up to tuck a wisp of hair behind her ear and breathed out slowly. She was trying to keep herself calm even though she didn't think she'd ever felt colder in her life. She knew that if she moved closer towards the man she was with that she would instantly be warmer, but she didn't want to chance doing anything he wouldn't approve of.

He was, in fact, waiting for her to make the first move. He also did not want to pressure her into anything and was thinking that since it had been so long and she had not moved that perhaps she didn't want to.

"G-Genesis?" Cissnei asked quietly, turning her head to look up at him. He looked down at her curiously and his expression softened as he saw how cold she looked. Surely she wanted to get warmer?

"What is it?" he asked gently.

"It's not usually this cold here, is it?" she questioned with a genuine desire to know the answer. He gave her a small smile and shook his head, shifting so that he was more comfortable and inconspicuously positioning himself closer to her.

"Do you need my coat?" he asked.

Immediately a blush crept up her cheeks and she shook her head, "I'm alright. Besides, I wouldn't want you to freeze either."

"Perhaps..." he trailed off and frowned slightly. Cissnei watched him closely, wondering what he was thinking but not brave enough to ask. "Would you like to share it?"

"Your coat?" she asked with a small gasp.

"Yes. I'm sure you'd fit under my arm," he shrugged. "But it's only if you want to. I don't want you to be uncomfortable."

"Oh, well if it's fine," Cissnei murmured. Genesis smiled and nodded, reaching out to slowly pull her closer to him so that they were sitting against each other and sharing body heat. Cissnei let out a content sigh as she felt some of his warmth sink into her and she had to fight to resist the temptation of dropping her head against his chest.

"I'm sorry you have to be here in this," Genesis said quietly.

"Hm?" she tilted her head slightly to look up at him.

"You could be at ShinRa, you know," he told her. "Rugged up in an office not worrying about being cold."

"I'd rather be here," Cissnei said in a whisper.

"I'm glad." Genesis slowly bent his head so that his lips brushed against her forehead and she blushed again but didn't move away this time. Even though they both knew about their attraction for the other, they couldn't help but act nervously all the time.

"I don't want you to be alone," Cissnei said honestly before falling silent. They both gazed out in the distance of the dark forest and enjoyed the quiet for a moment, allowing it to stretch on and on.

Genesis tightened his arm around Cissnei and looked down, a smile appearing on his lips. He slowly took her hand with his and turned it palm-up, smirking as Cissnei watched his face curiously since she didn't know what he was doing.

"Look down, Cissnei," he murmured, still watching their hands. She did so, glancing down and letting out a soft sigh as she saw the small ray of sunshine which danced in her palm. It must have been coming from a gap in the leaves somewhere above them.

"It's beautiful."

"If I had known moving closer together would make the sun come out from behind the clouds I would have done so long ago." Genesis murmured in her ear teasingly.

"You only think that's what made the sun come out," Cissnei jibed with a giggle.

Genesis raised an eyebrow in amusement and let go of her hand to reach up and gently cup her face, staring into her deep brown eyes. "All I know is that being close to you always lights up my day, and I would not enjoy the sight of this sunshine half as much if I was on my own."

Cissnei ducked her head and Genesis allowed his hand to fall away. He smiled down at her shy form and breathed in a breath of fresh, slightly warmer air. The clouds were moving faster now and more sunshine was pouring through many other gaps in the leaves above them. It wouldn't be long before the cold was driven out almost entirely.

"You light up my day, too," Cissnei said almost inaudibly, finally giving into temptation and dropping her head against his chest.

 


	5. 5. Seeking Solace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Genesis is missing from his class, and when found what is he found with? LOVELESS of course.

"Excuse me, everyone! Quieten down, please. That's it, thank you." The tour guide waved his hands around until he had everyones attention, slightly annoyed that today he had to lead a primary school class around everywhere. It made the job so much harder and yet he still only got the same amount of pay.

The students all grouped together, looking towards the tour guide and occasionally glancing around at the artworks that were displayed on the walls around them.

"Now," the tour guide began. "If you look over here you can see..." The students looked where they were told and sighed as all the information being said went in one ear and out the other. The teacher looking after them wasn't having much fun either.

"Excuse me, miss." A quieter student at the back of the group tugged gently on the teacher's sleeve.

"Oh, yes?" she looked down at her student curiously.

"Um, I can't see Genny anywhere," came the reply. The teacher immediately raised her head to look around the small group, searching for Genesis whom everyone called Genny. Sure enough, the young red-headed boy was nowhere to be found.

"Goodness, do you know where he is?" the teacher asked, beginning to panic. The student shook their head and the teacher walked up to the tour guide, interrupting him and explaining the situation.

"We shall all search!" the tour guide said to the students cheerily. They nodded their agreement eagerly and were soon sent off in two groups. One group went with the tour guide and the other went with the teacher.

After quite a while of searching, the group with the teacher arrived upon a small room with artworks of angels, the brightly shining wings captured perfectly on canvas. In the back corner sat Genesis Rhapsodos, his head buried in a book.

"Genesis! How dare you scare us all like that," the teacher walked over to him quickly, towering over him.

"Ah, what?" Genny looked up, yanked from the world of his book and thrown relentlessly into reality again.

"Genesis Rhapsodos..." the teacher muttered, a small smile tugging at her lips. "When will you get over your love for LOVELESS?" she questioned. Genesis' cheeks tinged red and his grip tightened on his LOVELESS book.

"Never," he mumbled. "Besides, she needs me."

"Who needs you?" the teacher questioned, amused.

"The... the goddess." Genesis said. His cheeks flushed brighter and he stood up, ducking his head in embarrassment.

"Come on, we need to go join everyone else," the teacher said, leading him out of the room. "Why did you go in there anyway?"

"I... like to be alone when reading." he stuttered. The teacher sighed and chuckled.

"Genny, you're one of a kind."


	6. 8. Innocence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hinted Generith.

Genesis Rhapsodos gently laid Weiss down against the side of the building he had come to and stood up again.

"I have something I need to do," Genesis mumbled. "Just wait." Turning his face towards the doorway of the building, he took a deep breath. One step after another, he found himself at the large double-doors of the church where he had last seen Aerith Gainsborough, the girl with such a cheerful smile it always made him happier after a long day of training at ShinRa.

He stood there, his hands not willing to reach up and open the doors just yet. What if she wasn't there? What if she had gone somewhere else? What if... what if she didn't want to see him? The monster that he was.

Shaking his head lightly, he forced himself to reach up and push the doors open.

His eyes instantly scanned the large room; taking in the broken pews, the blooming flowers, the large puddle of water and the hole in the roof. What had happened here? He was tense as he searched among the flowers for a girl crouching down and humming to herself.

"Hey, what are you doing in here?" someone called out, and Genesis took a step back anxiously. He found himself staring at a girl with black hair that wasn't Aerith, who had quickly pulled on a pair of black gloves and looked ready to fight.

"I don't want to hurt anyone," Genesis managed to say.

"Who are you?" the girl snapped, her eyes narrowing angrily.

"Genesis Rhapsodos. I came looking for-" he hesitated before dropping his gaze. "Aerith Gainsborough." The girl relaxed her stance and a pained expression came over her face. She walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry," she began quietly. "She's not here any more."

"Then where is she?" Genesis asked, looking up at her again. She shook her head gently, her eyes giving him all the information he needed and wouldn't believe.

"She was killed, I'm so sorry," the girl said. "She was one of my best friends." Genesis turned away, shrugging off the girls hand.

"Who on earth could kill her?" he growled. "She was an angel! She was innocent!" he dropped his head, tensing up so that he wouldn't cry.

"I know, I think so too," the girl nodded, trying hard herself not to cry. Genesis slowly walked past her towards the flowers, still not quite believing what he had been told. The girl that always made him happy by smiling at him was gone. She had been killed.

"She was amazing," Genesis muttered, kneeling down and cupping a flower in one hand. "I wonder – what would she think of me now?" The tears rolled down his cheeks and he shook gently, squeezing his eyes shut to block out the world.

"Genesis."

He looked up, eyes wide in confusion as he looked around the church. His eyes settled on the girl who was looking at him curiously and stood up.

"Did you say my name?" he asked her. She furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head.

"No, I didn't," she said.

"Genesis, it's Aerith," Genesis spun around, searching for the source of the voice. Was someone playing a trick on him?

"Where?" he said aloud.

"I'm part of the life stream now," Aerith said, her voice resonating around the church. "And for the record, I don't think you're a monster."

"Aerith? It's really you?" he asked, a lump forming in his throat.

"Yes," came the reply. "And Genesis? Please look after the planet for me."

"I will! I will. For as long as you are part of the life stream I will protect it with my life," Genesis said sincerely.

"Thank you," the voice faded away and Genesis slowly walked over to the girl.

"What did you say your name was?" he asked.

"Tifa, Tifa Lockhart." she said, wondering if he had actually been talking to Aerith or just to himself.

"Thanks for letting me come in, but I need to go now. I have things to do." He gave a quick nod and headed for the door. "Thank you Aerith, you've given me all the strength I need to go on," he whispered, a smile appearing on his face as he reached Weiss and once again continued on his way.

 


	7. 9. Drive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Genesis really loves LOVELESS. Genesis/Cissnei

"My mum said she'll come pick me up at eleven, is that all right?" Cissnei asked as she climbed into Genesis Rhapsodos' car.

"Sure! That's fine," he said, turning the ignition on and beginning to drive off away from her house. "It's just, I had thought I was going to drop you off home," he said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Oh, well I didn't want you to have to leave the party just because of me!" Cissnei replied.

"Hey, it's fine! I probably would've gone home when you left anyway. Do you want to call your mum and tell her she doesn't have to come?" Genesis glanced over at Cissnei briefly before focusing them in front again.

"Oh, maybe. I'll see at ten thirty whether you're too drunk or not," Cissnei joked, a smile gracing her face. Genesis chuckled and then there was silence for a moment.

"I hear you're going in to get your full licence soon," Genesis said.

"Yeah! It's so exciting! I finally won't have to worry about putting the P plates on my car," Cissnei beamed. "But I still don't think I'm as good a driver as you are."

"Why do you say that?" Genesis asked curiously.

"Well, you're driving is so smooth! The car just seems to be in touch with your mind and know exactly what you want it to do!" Cissnei said, her eyes lighting up in excitement as she spoke of something Genesis was good at.

"I see," Genesis said, making sure that his amusement showed in his words.

"Whatever, I know it's weird but that's just how good of a driver I think you are." Cissnei shrugged.

"Did you remember to bring a bottle of drink like they asked?" Genesis questioned suddenly. Cissnei nodded and patted her oh-so-large-but-in-fashion bag.

"Mum made sure I didn't forget it. She's such a worry-wart sometimes," she giggled.

"Yeah, I think it's got something to do with having a child like you," Genesis teased.

"Hey! That's so mean!" Cissnei laughed. "Besides, your parents should worry more. What with your addiction to LOVELESS. There's just no hope for you."

"No hope, you say?" Genesis repeated, raising one eyebrow.

"That's right. You and your book can't be separated for more than-" Cissnei froze mid-sentence and her eyes widened as she looked over at Genesis. "What are you thinking!? You're going to get me killed!" In an instant Cissnei had reached out and pulled LOVELESS from his hands, shoving it deep into her bag so that it was out of sight.

"Hey! I was reading that!" Genesis complained.

"Exactly! You're supposed to be driving, Genesis!" Cissnei snapped.

"Oh come on, you were just going on about how good my driving skills were!" Genesis whined. "Please give it back."

"Were you reading it the entire way?" Cissnei asked. Genesis took a deep breath and slowly let it out.

"Yes."

"What!?" Cissnei yelled. "There is no way you're driving me home."

"Please, just give it back," Genesis pleaded.

"No!" Cissnei folded her arms stubbornly and stared straight ahead. As the car pulled up at the place of the party, Genesis turned to Cissnei and smiled.

"You're cute when you're mad."

 


	8. 11. Memory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fathers were strung around his life like a spider web and he therefore found himself, on days such as this, wondering why he couldn't have been closer to his own.

There was an old, black and white, dirty and faded image of his father somewhere far in the back of Cloud's mind which, only on the extremely rare day when he had nothing much else to do other than sit and think, did he recall it and picture it behind his eyelids. It held nothing of importance for him as he hadn't known the man for long at all, yet for some reason he felt he _needed_ to feel attached to his father.

There were several reasons for Cloud's assumption and they all had something to do with the people whom he knew in his life.

Denzel and Marlene needed a _father_.

Tifa was distraught when her _father_ died.

In order to become a better _father_ Barrett had gone on a quest to atone for his sins.

Fathers were strung around his life like a spider web and he therefore found himself, on days such as this, wondering why he couldn't have been closer to his own. Why had his father left him, anyway?

And how was he supposed to be a good father for Marlene and Denzel when he had nothing to base his actions on? He had no idea how to act around them as a father because he had never experienced it. Tifa gave him suggestions sometimes, yes, but he felt as though he was missing something vital which everyone else had.

Then again, Sephiroth never mentioned anything about his father and instead only spoke of his mother - even if the woman he spoke of was not even related to him. Perhaps Cloud didn't need a father and only needed a mother. If Sephiroth could survive without a fathers guidance then he could too.

But it didn't take a brainiac to work out that Sephiroth's example may not have been the best to follow.

Thoughts such as these always left Cloud feeling slightly drained and empty, which was why he often stopped himself before he got too deep into the subject. Although his subconscious mind could not help but wonder what life could have been like for him if he'd had a father.

Would he have made it into SOLDIER?

Would he have been more outgoing and had the courage to ask Tifa out earlier?

Would the fate of Tifa's father still be the same?

Would the other children from Nibelheim still tease him?

By the time he realised he was thinking these things he usually scolded himself and forced himself to concentrate on something else. There was absolutely no point in dwelling on the past and things which he had no ability to change. Didn't all his friends keep telling him to move on?

It was time to forget the past.

It was time to forget that memory.

 


	9. 12. Insanity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cloud doesn't want to face the truth of Zack and Aerith being dead. He hallucinates Zack. Tifa wants to help.

A cold breeze gently flapped the curtain covering Cloud Strife's bedroom window. Voices wafted up from downstairs and Cloud pushed himself up into a sitting position on his bed.

"He's up in his room." One of the voices, who Cloud knew to be Tifa, informed the other person.

"I see. Well, should we go up?" Cloud wasn't sure who the second voice belonged to, but it was a male. With a sigh, he shoved himself to his feet and walked over to the door which he had left open.

"Not if you want to have a civilised conversation with me," he said, having raised his voice just loud enough for it to carry down to where the two had only just begun climbing the stairs. They stopped, and Tifa's eyes widened as she saw that he had heard them talking.

"Ah, Cloud. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Dr Wright." The man who's voice Cloud had heard before smiled warmly at him, but did not come any further up the stairs than where he was. It seemed that what Cloud had said he had taken very seriously.

"And?" Cloud asked sharply. The disdain in his voice was clearly heard and Tifa winced, obviously wishing he wasn't reacting this way.

"I was wondering if we could talk. Perhaps downstairs? If you don't want me coming up..." Dr Wright explained carefully, hoping he wouldn't offend the strong blonde and that all would go as planned.

"Please Cloud," Tifa murmured just loud enough for him to hear, slight pleading added to it as she had noticed him tense up and seem ready to turn the doctor away in an instant. "Just talk to him." Cloud seemed reluctant at first, fixing Tifa with a look that plainly told her he was not interested and was actually somewhat hurt that she had brought a doctor to him. However, he seemed to buckle under her desperate gaze and finally nodded once, starting down the stairs.

Dr Wright smiled in victory, waiting until Cloud had passed him before following him out to some seats. Once they were all comfortable, Dr Wright pulled out a pair of glasses and slipped them onto his face.

"Alright Cloud, how has your day been?" Cloud raised an eyebrow at the seemingly innocent question, glancing at Tifa before turning back to the doctor.

"Fine." The word was said in such a way that it was obvious no more would be said about it and the subject of his day was closed. Dr Wright sat in silence for a moment, considering the answer and wondering what would be the next best question to ask.

"Do you know why I'm here, Cloud?" he asked gently, a slight frown appearing on his face. He guessed that Cloud would have no doubts about why he was here, but wanted to be sure just in case.

"You both think I've lost my mind," Cloud said, eyes narrowing.

"Cloud please, we want to help you!" Tifa said, hoping that he would understand. "I'm worried about you Cloud."

"I know that you're worried Tifa, but there's nothing to worry about." Cloud sighed in annoyance and leant back against the back of his chair.

"Cloud, there _is_ something to worry about as far as I'm concerned! Some days I come up to where you're working on stuff for the delivery service and you say you're talking to _Zack_!" Tifa exclaimed, her eyes becoming moist.

"So what if my mind makes me hallucinate him occasionally? Talking to Zack makes me feel better!" Cloud yelled at her. Dr Wright looked at Cloud with concern in his eyes, thinking carefully about the situation.

"Cloud! What if one day you're out riding your bike and hallucinate that he's in danger or something and get in a crash trying to save his life again when he's already _dead_!?" Tifa argued, a few tears escaping and sliding down her cheeks. Cloud breathed slowly through his nose, trying to calm himself down and not retaliate to what she had said in a harsh way. He knew she was only trying to help.

"I don't want to say goodbye to him. He was my best friend and still is! I can't... I can't just..." He slouched and hung his dead, trying desperately to keep his emotions under control. "It was my fault Tifa! My fault..."

"Cloud, I'm going to come back again next week alright?" Dr Wright said gently. "We want to help you, and once we have you'll thank us."

"Thanks for coming," Tifa said quietly, sniffing. Dr Wright nodded in acknowledgement of her thanks and stood up, heading for the door and letting himself out.

"I shouldn't have let him fight them all by himself," Cloud muttered.

"It wasn't your fault Cloud!" Tifa said firmly.

"You wouldn't understand. You didn't watch him die right in front of you." Cloud shook his head, still not looking up.

"Cloud, you really need to stop blaming yourself," Tifa sighed, gently wiping her eyes and standing up to leave the room also.

"You know she's right." Cloud didn't even flinch when Zack's voice interrupted his thoughts. "It wasn't your fault, Cloud. And if you _had_ tried to fight alongside me you would've just gotten in the way."

"Yeah, I guess," Cloud sighed, slowly raising his head and turning to look at where Zack stood behind him with his arms folded. "Thanks, Zack."

"No problem, Spiky!" Zack grinned, stepping forward and ruffling his friends hair. Cloud grinned half-heartedly and turned to sit normally in his seat again.

"Hey, Zack," Cloud's expression turned to one of thoughtfulness and he once again turned to face his friend. But Zack was now gone, and Cloud's face darkened in sadness. Standing up, he walked off to his room where his window was still open. "Maybe she's right..." he mumbled to himself, rubbing his head as he grabbed hold of some papers with scribbled orders of things to be delivered the next day. "I do need help."

 


	10. 13. Misfortune

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sephiroth sets off to embarrass Genesis but the tables turn quite drastically. Who's up for a photo shoot? Zack is, apparently.

Sephiroth stifled a laugh as he shoved a specific magazine into his bag. He believed it was his duty as Genesis' best friend to display it to as many people as possible who also knew him. Shaking his head lightly, he zipped his bag up and threw it onto his back, walking out of the room.

Heading towards his friend Angeal's room, he couldn't help the amused grin from appearing on his face. He reached a hand out and knocked, raising an eyebrow as Angeal came to the door.

"You ready?" he asked. Angeal rolled his eyes and nodded.

"He's going to kill you for this," Angeal stated. He always seemed to find himself in between the two as they fought, but one of them would always pull him onto their side.

"It's about time I got back at him for all the things he's done to me," Sephiroth said.

The two first class SOLDIERs headed out, searching with their eyes for Genesis in case they would have to instantaneously come up with a new plan.

Thankfully, he was nowhere to be seen.

"Here," Sephiroth began pulling the magazine out of his bag and then flipped it open to the middle page, tearing it in half and handing half to Angeal. "You know what to do." Angeal nodded and walked off, keeping the pages down and out of sigh from most people.

Sephiroth sighed happily and walked off, shoving his pages back into his bag. He couldn't help the smile that was on his face – he was just so happy! Finally getting his own back at Genesis, it was brilliant! Genesis had already expressed just how embarrassed he was about the magazine, so Sephiroth had of course used it to his advantage.

"Excuse me, General? Would we be able to talk for a minute?" Sephiroth was stopped by two civilians, one of which quickly held out a piece of paper to him. He took hold of the paper and skim-read it.

A stupid letter from the President informing him that once he encountered these exact two men he was to do as they asked.

"Sure," Sephiroth sighed.

"If you could just come through here, Sir?" the men walked through a door and held it open for him, letting go once he was through.

What Sephiroth saw shocked him. The entire room had been done up to look like a studio. It even had the camera's, the backdrop, the camera crew, the different lights set up on the roof for different atmospheres, and the _models_.

The 'models'.

Sephiroth stared.

He continued staring in shock even when one of the men who had found him waved a hand in front of his face.

"Seph!" Zack bounded over from where he had been standing in front of the backdrop, now standing in front of his friend.

"What's going on?" Sephiroth asked sharply. The other 'model' who still stood in front of the backdrop looked nervous and brushed some of his spiky blonde hair out of his face awkwardly, eyeing the camera's as if they were going to bite him.

"We're gonna be famous!" Zack exclaimed. "Isn't it cool? C'mon! We gotta stand over there." Zack grabbed Sephiroth's arm and dragged him over to stand where the other boy was, who was now looking up at him in awe.

"General, Sir." One of the men stepped forward to address him. "President Shinra wanted more pictures of some of the SOLDIERs in order to promote ShinRa even more. He thought having a first class, second class and a grunt would be perfect."

Sephiroth whipped out his phone, hurriedly dialling a number and then putting it to his ear. "Angeal? Abandon your mission. _Immediately_." Snapping his phone shut, he slid it back into his pocket and sighed.

"Oooh was Angeal on a mission?" Zack asked excitedly. Sephiroth shot him a look that made him shut up.

"Will you do it Sir?" the man asked. Sephiroth looked over at him again and narrowed his eyes. They both knew he had no choice.

"Fine," he said.

"Great! Can we have photo's taken now?" Zack piped up again.

"Make yourself useful and at least introduce the grunt," Sephiroth said angrily.

"Oh! Sorry, Spiky! Completely forgot about you down there!" Zack laughed, ruffling the blonde's hair. "Seph, this is Cloud! Cloud, this is Seph!"

Cloud stared up at Sephiroth, eyes wide in obvious fear. Zack laughed again and Sephiroth just raised an eyebrow.

"Okay! Let's get started!" one of the men said as he walked back over behind the camera. "Zack, sit on the stool and give us one of your grins. Perfect! Cloud, move forward a bit more so you're right beside him. That's it. Okay tilt your head a bit more. Yeah, smile a bit would you? No, no. Not like you're about to die. Pretend the chick you like is watching. Oh for goodness sake! It's not that terrifying!"

Sephiroth sighed and folded his arms, already bored to death.

"Try and look enthusiastic! A bit like Zack's doing, yeah? That's better... but not quite what I want. Come on, loosen up and give us one of those smiles that should be on your face a lot more!"

Cloud was finding it very difficult to do as asked, his face already flaming up into a _very_ obvious red colour.

"He doesn't want to smile. Don't force him." Sephiroth spoke up. The man looked over at him and frowned slightly, thinking it over. Then his entire face lit up again.

"Okay! I've got an idea! Zack, dispose of the stool, but not literally. Just move it out of the picture. Okay, Keep your grin and put an arm around the General's shoulders. Now put your other arm around Cloud's neck like you're trying to pull him closer and he wants to escape. Perfect Cloud! Memorise what your face is doing and keep it! Yes! And hold onto Zack's arm like you want to push it off. General, stand there with a neutral expression like you couldn't care less. Yeah, pretty much what you're already doing. Okay people let's get this photo taken!"

The camera flashed a couple dozen times, and Cloud began to squirm uncomfortably. Zack kept his grip firm and wouldn't allow the poor blonde kid to run and hide in a corner. Sephiroth continued to stand there like he couldn't care less. Because frankly, _he couldn't care less_.

When the man ordering them around finally decided they had enough pictures of that one shot, he instructed them to move into another position.

"Okay, keep your attitudes. So Zack with the hyper-grin, Cloud with the I-don't-want-to-be-here expression and General, uh, just keep doing what you're doing." The man began. "This time I want Cloud to sit on the stool, Zack to stand behind him with his arms on Cloud's shoulders, and General I'd like you to stand behind them both with your same impassive face."

Sephiroth waited for Cloud and Zack to position themselves before stepping up behind them and staring blankly at the camera. In front of him, Zack leant his chin on Cloud's head.

Bad move.

"Get off my hair! Off, off, off! Now, Zack!" Cloud practically screamed, swiping at his dark-haired friend who begun laughing and almost fell over in hysterics. Sephiroth stepped back slightly and raised an eyebrow.

"Don't ever do that again!" Cloud yelled, hurriedly smoothing his hair with his hands while keeping an eye on Zack.

"You're-!" Zack gulped to get some breath in his lungs after laughing so hard. "Hilarious!"

"It's not funny!" Cloud whined.

"Hey, hey!" the camera man waved a hand and then shrugged his shoulders, questioning. "What's your problem? I was about to say, 'that's great, do that' when you go psycho!"

"You were gonna make him lean on my hair!?" Cloud asked in disbelief.

"It's not like he damaged it at all," Sephiroth pointed out. Cloud went to say something but stopped himself, apparently not too keen about talking to the General.

"Come on, I want you to do exactly what you were all doing before blondie here decided to burst a couple eardrums." The man frowned slightly and stepped back again, waiting.

With a grumble, Cloud slouched on the stool and stared angrily at the camera. Zack leant his arms on Cloud's shoulders and slowly lowered his chin to Cloud's head, half expecting the kid to scream _again_. Once he was in position and grinning, Sephiroth stepped up behind and stared blankly.

For the rest of the day, the three of them were ordered around about where to stand and what to do, make-up was put on their faces - accentuating their eyes most of all, and they found that by the end of it all the flash of the camera hardly bothered them at all.

Walking out of the room, Cloud had a small smile on his face, Zack was still beaming like it was Christmas morning, and Sephiroth was frowning to himself as he wondered why he had found himself having fun.

"Seph?" Sephiroth turned to see Genesis walking up and immediately tensed.

"What?" he asked. Genesis froze, staring at him and then glancing at the two people standing to his left.

"You..." Genesis blinked. "You just had a photo shoot didn't you! You're still wearing the make-up!" Sephiroth turned his head away slightly, looking down at the ground.

"No I didn't. You're hallucinating," he said.

"Ha! You so did!" Genesis chuckled. "I wonder how you'll feel when _your_ pictures are strewn all over town tomorrow!"

"They won't be," Sephiroth snarled, looking up at his friend again.

"Actually, they will. The dude said they'd only take one night to go through and be-" Zack found himself being knocked backwards into a wall. Sephiroth lowered his arm to his side again. Cloud's eyes widened and he stepped away slightly.

"So, tomorrow you will officially know how I felt," Genesis said, a smug smile on his face. Sephiroth simply glared at him. "Ah yes, life is good." Turning around, Genesis walked off.

"Wha' was'at for?" Zack asked, pulling himself to his feet and stumbling sideways, clutching his nose. Sephiroth ignored him, simply walking off silently.

When he finally reached his room, he dumped his bag back on his bed and rubbed his head. Sighing, he realised he would never be able to post the pictures of Genesis that he had found in that magazine around their favourite bar. Not when Genesis would have the obvious come-back of then posting _his_ pictures around when _they_ came out.

Growling quietly to himself, he punched his desk and wondered _why_ Genesis _always_ had to get the better of him.

 


	11. 16. Questioning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Genesis needs time to think after discovering his wing, but only questions come to mind, not answers. He needs the help of his two best friends, Angeal and Sephiroth, to get him through this rough time.

Genesis stared out at the waves that rolled in and crashed over the sand, swishing around and foaming white. His mind was not on the surf however, or on anything which surrounded him as he stood on the deserted beach. He was thinking about something which had happened the night before and had left him very shaken.

Everything he had believed about who he was and what his purpose in life was had changed since that night. He had not had much time at all to think about it, but he was sure he would have much more time to think about it in the future. Still, he had set aside this time in the morning for that purpose to try figure everything out.

He was a monster.

That was the conclusion he had come to after going over his situation again and again. There was no other possibility for someone like him. Someone who had- had a...

Genesis closed his eyes and allowed the feel of the wind through his hair and pulling at his clothes to soothe his mind. He wished he could make his _growth_ disappear so that he would never have to deal with it ever again, but knew that wasn't possible. He had already attempted cutting it from his body and only ended up witnessing his system's fast-healing ability.

Clenching his hands into fists, Genesis could feel his mind fracturing. Why did this have to happen to him? Why couldn't it have happened to someone else instead so that he didn't have to try and deal with himself?

He knew he should have gone to Hojo so that it could be explained, but he didn't want to listen to anything that man had to say about him anymore. He didn't want to listen to what _anyone_ had to say to him about his abnormal growth. They wouldn't be able to understand what he was going through.

Genesis must have stood there for three hours without speaking. All of his thoughts twirled around in his mind and he couldn't seem to find a positive side to what had happened no matter how many times he went over it.

All that seemed to be happening was his thoughts kept repeating.

_I'm a monster_.

Why him? Why not someone else?

Why couldn't it have been a random 3rd Class SOLDIER who suddenly sprouted a-

Genesis lowered his head, now staring down at the sand around his boots. How could he face his friends? They wouldn't want to know a monster was close to them. He'd be better off severing their friendship before they found out about him. It would be easier that way.

Unless... unless the others had them too? What if all three of them had gone through the same thing that last night and just weren't strong enough to say anything to each other?

Sighing softly and turning around, Genesis lifted his head and began walking back away from the beach. He'd been out there long enough and knew it was time to face the real world again before he lost all of his sanity just from thinking too much.

When he got back to ShinRa and made his way to his room, he wasn't expecting Angeal and Sephiroth to be in there.

But when he opened the door, they were, and at the same time they froze and looked over at him as if caught doing something wrong.

"What happened?" Genesis asked with a frown, his own problems gone for a moment as he saw the nervous looks on his friends' faces. They had been speaking before he had entered and since they had quickly stopped, had it been about him?

"Angeal spoke to Professor Hojo today..." Sephiroth said slowly, watching Genesis' face closely.

"Is that supposed to be a momentous event?" Genesis asked and raised one eyebrow curiously.

Sephiroth glanced at Angeal, who shrugged, before looking back at Genesis and squaring his shoulders slightly.

"Angeal and I have experienced some unexpected changes lately." he said carefully. "After you left this morning we both thought that maybe the same had happened to you."

Genesis stared silently, not wanting to speak in case they were talking about something completely different. It took him a moment to realise how tense he was as he waited for Sephiroth or Angeal to say something else.

Sephiroth frowned and looked at Angeal. With Genesis looking so hostile, they weren't sure what was the best way to say it.

Then Angeal sighed and turned around, not waiting for Sephiroth's approval of his idea before his shirt tore open to reveal a white wing. He didn't extend it the whole way since the room wasn't big enough, but it would be impossible for Genesis to mistake what it was.

"You seemed anxious this morning," Angeal said, speaking softly over his shoulder. "We thought we should let you know you're not alone."

The tension left Genesis' body and he sagged slightly in relief, closing his eyes. He wouldn't have to worry about his friends. Of course, they wouldn't have cared even if he was the only one.

Opening his eyes to see Sephiroth slowly bringing out his own black wing, Genesis felt all his worries leave him. He didn't have to think about what would happen now, because he could go through this with his best friends. They'd help him through.

Together they would experience the changes brought by having a wing.

And together they'd find the answers to his questions.

 


	12. 18. Rainbow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sephiroth finds a Rainbow Robe/Dress in the bag of a dead Wutai soldier. He then manages to convince Genesis to wear it and gets a photo.

Sephiroth walked amongst the slain Wutai soldiers, his eyes scanning them for anything that might prove to be useful that he could take back with him when he left. Genesis was back at the camp already, probably trying to get blood off his coat – a pointless task seeing as his coat was red anyway – but Sephiroth didn't mind. Sephiroth had actually volunteered to stay behind and look for anything they could scavenge.

Pausing and stooping down to pick up one of the dead soldier's bag, he opened it and pushed the contents around to see everything that was inside. Once he was satisfied that it was boring, he dropped it and continued on.

Although the task could be tedious, Sephiroth actually found it relaxing at times. When he wanted to clear his mind from a battle, he would usually offer to search through the remains just like he was doing now. He could allow his mind to wander as his eyes and hands did something familiar to them.

Seeing another bag, he picked it up and again pushed the contents around. This one contained a heal materia and he pocketed it, discarding the bag again.

It wasn't very often at all that he ever found something very interesting, but that day was certainly a very different day. Normally only one SOLDIER would be sent to a battle like this, but Genesis had been sent along as well this time.

So when Sephiroth picked up another bag and pulled out a rather large and peculiar looking object, he couldn't help but laugh to himself. He could imagine Genesis' face already when he showed the other man. Unimpressed would be an understatement. That was why Sephiroth kept the object with him and still had it when he finally returned to camp.

Genesis emerged from a tent and waved a hand in greeting to his friend, eager to see what had been found today. Sephiroth appeared to be holding a lot which meant there had to be at least one thing would interest Genesis, surely.

"I knew you'd want to see," Sephiroth said with a slight smirk, shifting the objects in his arms. "Wait a moment as I put this stuff down. There's one thing I'll bring back to show you – you'll love it."

Genesis watched warily as Sephiroth went inside the tent to deposit most of the items before coming back out with a strangely shaped, _rainbow_ object. Genesis then raised an eyebrow, hoping this wasn't some joke.

"What is it?" he asked.

"What it _is_ ," Sephiroth said. "Is perfect for you."

Sephiroth then gripped part of the object and let the rest fall down so that it was much easier to tell what it was. Genesis' eyes widened in shock as he saw it was a dress. A rainbow coloured dress.

"That's supposed to be interesting?" Genesis asked sceptically.

"I never said interesting. I said perfect for you," Sephiroth reminded him.

"Well it's definitely _not_ perfect for me. In case you didn't know, I don't wear dresses. Ever," Genesis said stubbornly.

"That's a shame," Sephiroth sighed, beginning to roll the dress up again. "I thought you'd realise it was armour as well."

"As if. That is _not_ armour," Genesis said with a shake of his head.

"It is, actually. Haven't you ever heard of it? The Rainbow Robe is said to have come from a different world entirely and is very effective at protecting whoever wears it. Said to have belonged to a _Goddess_ by the name of Rydia. Apparently it also increases intelligence." Sephiroth turned and began walking away.

"You're bluffing," Genesis snapped angrily at his back.

"No I'm not. You can try it on, if you'd like." Sephiroth turned halfway round again and raised an eyebrow, holding the dress out as an offer.

"I don't want to wear a dress." Genesis folded his arms.

"Then don't. I didn't think you'd want to, anyway. You're not brave enough to be seen in something like this amongst other people." Sephiroth shrugged.

"Yes I am! I just don't think you're telling the truth!" Genesis replied heatedly, getting more and more fired up for no rational reason at all.

"There is one way you can find out," Sephiroth said with a slight sigh. Genesis glared at him for a while, anger almost bursting out of his eyes. Then, the red-head stormed forward and snatched the object from Sephiroth's hands, disappearing inside the tent.

Sephiroth smirked and pulled out his PHS, holding it inconspicuously at his side as he navigated his way to the camera option on it. He waited patiently for a few moments before walking over to the tent and calling to Genesis without entering.

"Are you done, yet?"

"I knew you were lying! I don't feel any different at all," Genesis replied angrily. With a smirk, Sephiroth walked inside the tent and had to fight not to burst out laughing at the sight he saw. Genesis stood there in the dress, a glare and a blush on his face as he looked up and saw his friend in the doorway.

"I told you it would be perfect for you," Sephiroth said, bringing his free hand up to cover his mouth as he used his other hand to take a picture of Genesis. Hopefully the other SOLDIER wouldn't realise until it was too late.

"Get out. I'm changing back again," Genesis said.

"Don't you even want to test it to see if it really does work? I can fight you," Sephiroth suggested with a slight shrug of his shoulder, still trying to hold his laughs back so that he didn't offend him.

"Sephiroth, tell me once and for all," Genesis growled angrily. "Does it work or not?"

Sephiroth finally burst out laughing and felt tears of laughter pricking his eyes. He felt horrible, but it was also very satisfying to see that he had succeeded in fooling his friend yet again.

"No, it's not real. I checked it over and it's only a copy of the original. It has no magic in it," Sephiroth managed to say after a while. Genesis appeared to be getting angrier and angrier by the second.

"I will get you back for this, Sephiroth," he promised in a low, threatening voice.

"Come and get me, then," The General smirked again and stepped out of the tent, knowing very well that Genesis would not follow and instead seize the opportunity to get out of the dress while he was alone.

"Stay outside!" Genesis yelled.

"Don't worry, I will," Sephiroth replied, holding his PHS up to his face and searching through his contacts until he found Angeal. "I'm just sending a picture to Angeal."

Genesis grunted in reply and was silent for a moment as he continued getting changed, but then he suddenly let out a cry of rage and Sephiroth heard him run halfway to the door of the tent before halting again.

"Don't you dare!" the red-head yelled.

"Too late," Sephiroth chuckled as he hit send.

"I'm going to murder you!" Genesis threatened loudly. Sephiroth shook his head as he laughed, put his PHS away, and walked off.

A few minutes later he received a text message.

_Sent it to Zack, Lazard, Reno and a few others. I'm sure they'll spread it even further. I'm amazed, Seph. Really. Not that you got him to wear a dress, but that you were still alive to send that picture to me. Hopefully I'll see you back here in one piece._

Sephiroth laughed aloud as he put his PHS back in his pocket and casually rested a hand on the hilt of his sword. It wouldn't be long now until...

The sound of a the tent flap being opened reached Sephiroth's ears and he began easing his sword out of his belt. He could hear the rapid footsteps approaching and at exactly the right moment turned to meet Genesis' own sword.

In a few hours time Genesis would be returning to ShinRa with a doubly wounded ego.

The picture of him wearing a rainbow dress would have circulated 100 people, including a few infantrymen.

Sephiroth would also be returning to ShinRa. He would be smug and pleased with himself.

Two days later, Genesis would get Sephiroth back.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Rainbow Robe is from Final Fantasy IV and V. Rydia is from FF IV and, as far as I know, is not a Goddess. Sephiroth only said that to get Genesis' attention.


	13. 20. Fortitude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cloud and the other grunts are sent out in the snow and have to make their way to a checkpoint with only a compass and a gun. Cloud gets separated.

Cloud slammed his palm against his compass and shook it before holding it up to his face again, checking to see if it now worked. Unfortunately, the device seemed beyond repair. He didn't blame it – if he was a compass he would've frozen stiff in this weather too.

Lifting his gaze to look around at his surroundings, he wondered whether he'd ever make it back. He and the other grunts had been loaded into a helicopter, flown off to some far away, freezing cold place, kicked out in the snow and then ordered to make their way back to the designated checkpoint by going west.

The group of them had set off together at first, sticking close and constantly checking their compasses against each other to make sure they were all reading the same thing. It hadn't been long though, before they'd encountered some monsters and spent ten minutes fighting them.

After that, Cloud had realised he couldn't see anyone else from his group. He was alone, cold, and his compass now wasn't working.

Turning around, Cloud wondered whether the trees which he was standing amongst looked familiar or not. Of course, there really was no way to tell whether he'd seen these specific trees before as all the trees were covered in snow and looked identical.

Banging his compass against a tree trunk to try and make it work one more time, Cloud sighed and then set off. He had no idea where he was going or even whether he was managing to walk in a straight line, but he figured that sooner or later he would reach some sort of civilisation. Then he'd be able to ask someone for directions, maybe get another compass, and be on his way again.

As he walked, he wondered whether the others had realised he was gone. If they had, then he wondered if they were going to try and look for him or just keep going towards the checkpoint in order to reach it faster.

Hearing a growl to his left, Cloud instantly raised his gun and spun to the side, his eyes scanning the white land desperately. He couldn't see anything and the wind had just picked up, causing small flakes of snow to fly into his face and obscure his view even more.

"Back off, Monster, this kids gonna make it," Cloud threatened angrily. He didn't feel like fighting off any more monsters right now because his limbs all felt like they would snap due to the cold and he just wanted a hot chocolate.

He waited a few more moments to see whether anything would jump out at him and then he turned again and continued walking.

After only ten steps a branch cracked and Cloud spun around, gun up and eyes searching for a target to lock onto. A loud growl sounded through the air and a monster burst out from behind a tree, heading straight for him. He instantly began shooting, backing up as he did so, and cursed the animal for being white like the snow surrounding it. No wonder he hadn't seen it before.

"Die monster scum!" he yelled, a small grin appearing on his face. Firing the final bullet, he took a small leap backwards and watched the monster fall to the ground. His grin widened and he was about to begin figuring out which direction to take next when his foot got caught in a root and he fell flat on his back. His gun spun out of his hand, skidding through the snow and leaving a rough trail before it came to rest against a tree trunk.

Cloud groaned and slowly pushed himself to his feet, wobbling slightly. He realised there was something digging into his leg from his pocket and soon discovered it was his compass, which was now completely smashed up.

Sighing, he turned to retrieve his gun.

And was met with another monster who had one of its feet placed carefully on the gun, as if it knew that was exactly what Cloud needed and would use to kill it.

"Oh boy, do I hate you," Cloud sighed again. His day was definitely not going to plan.

Taking a small, slow step to the side, Cloud thought desperately about what he was going to do about his situation. He could either run and be chased, dive for the gun and risk having his head chomped off in a second, throw something at the monster to distract it and _then_ dive for the gun, or very slowly retreat away from it until he was far enough to run without it coming after him.

None of those seemed like very good ideas.

Turning his head slowly to look at the ground, he made a quick analysis of what there was that he may be able to use to throw. He spotted a thick branch beside his foot and slowly began bending for it when the monster growled and he froze.

"Nice monster," he whispered. "You don't want to hurt me."

Inch by inch he continued to lower himself, getting closer to the branch every second. Finally, his fingers grazed it and then it was in his fist.

He took a deep breath, summoning all of his courage, and then hurled the branch at the monster with all of his might. In the next moment before he even allowed himself to think about what was happening or what he was about to do he pushed himself forward and ran for his gun, diving and reaching his hands forward to grab it.

The monster had been hit right in the eye and howled in pain, snarling at the branch and snapping it in its jaws before turning to find out what Cloud was doing.

Cloud had grabbed his gun, twisted so that he was facing up at the monster and then fired.

With adrenaline pumping through his body, Cloud watched the monster anxiously. It blinked and stared at him for a couple of seconds before suddenly letting out an almighty groan and falling to the side. Thankfully, Cloud had gotten it right in the heart.

"Oh my gosh," Cloud breathed out, closing his eyes for a moment as he tried to calm himself down.

"Hey, there he is! Cloud!"

Sitting up with a start, Cloud turned around to see the others from his group running over, all smiling widely.

"Dude, you took 'em out all by yourself?" one of his friends asked, gaping at the monster which lay on the ground close to him.

"Yeah, but it almost got me first." Cloud laughed, accepting the hand which was offered and pulling himself up.

"You wait until we tell the commander! He'll love this!"

"What are you doing this far north anyway?"

"My compass broke." Cloud shrugged, pulling part of his dead compass from his pocket to show them before stuffing it back in.

"Come on, at least we've still got ours."

Cloud nodded and grinned, falling into step with his friends as they directed him back to the way they were supposed to be going.

Although he would never admit it, he was really glad they'd come looking for him.

And just wait 'til he told Zack he'd taken down two monsters by himself!

 


	14. 23. Cat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cloud knows the rule of no pets at ShinRa, but the kitten was lost and needed a home! ...or was it?

Cloud glanced around nervously, hoping no one knew what he was doing as he walked stiffly and slowly towards his quarters. He hoped they were empty, because if they weren't he would have more things to worry about.

Carefully opening the door, he breathed out in relief as he saw that the room was vacant. He quickly closed the door behind him and went over to his bed, gently putting his bag down.

"Here, kitty," Cloud whispered, coaxing the kitten's head out the top. It blinked up at him, trying to get used to the light, and then squirmed it's way completely out of the bag. "That's a good boy," Cloud murmured.

The kitten explored the bed cautiously at first before getting more adventurous. He pounced on the pillow and made small mewing sounds to show he was enjoying himself. Cloud tried to stop the little ball of fun, but the kitten leapt from the bed and quickly began exploring every inch of the room.

_Please, no one walk in..._

Cloud tried catching the kitten, but it was so fast! He couldn't even remember how he'd persuaded it to get into his bag before.

He was paranoid, feeling convinced that someone was going to walk in, see the cat and tattle on him.

ShinRa had a strict rule. No pets allowed. So if Cloud was found with this kitten he would get in a whole lot of trouble. He wasn't even sure whether he'd still be allowed to stay once found disobeying the rules, but he hadn't been able to simply ignore the little creature.

"Come on, please come back," Cloud begged as he walked around another bed after the kitten. "Whatever you do, don't mess anything up," he added almost as an afterthought.

Hearing footsteps, Cloud's heart beat at double time as the fear entered his mind. Could he make up a story so he wouldn't get in trouble?

"Spiky!"

Cloud winced as he heard Zack's voice and instantly began trying to send telepathic messages telling him to go away.

The door opened.

"Zack! Shut the door!" Cloud yelled in horror, watching the kitten dart across the room towards the exit. Zack looked surprised, but his SOLDIER reflexes caused him to slam the door quickly behind him. The kitten skittered away again and hid under one of the beds, mewing again.

"Uh, Cloud? Why do you have a cat?" Zack asked slowly.

"I'm sorry! It's not even really mine! I just found it, that's all. But it looked lost and scared so-"

"Hey, isn't this the President's son's cat?" Zack was now lying on the floor to get a look at the animal, and at what he said Cloud's eyes widened in horror. He had taken Rufus Shinra's pet?

"I didn't know!" Cloud exclaimed.

"Whoa, chill!" Zack said, standing up again. "I'll take him back, okay?"

"Okay." Cloud nodded.

"Don't worry about him. Rufus'll take good care of him, I'm sure," Zack said. He got down on his knees and put one hand out, making strange noises to try and make the cat come out to him. Cloud raised an eyebrow at what Zack was doing and then the other when the kitten actually emerged.

"He must like you," Cloud commented.

"He just likes the sound," Zack replied, gently scooping the kitten into his arms and getting to his feet. "It's probably a good thing you found him, Spike. He could've ended up in the hands of someone a lot meaner."

Cloud nodded, averting his eyes. He still felt bad for even contemplating on disobeying the rules laid down by ShinRa.

"Who knows, maybe Rufus will even thank you!" Zack chuckled, heading out the door. Cloud's mouth opened slightly in shock. Zack was going to tell on him?

Grumbling quietly to himself, Cloud went back over to his bed and grabbed his things that he would need for his next class. He had hoped that he could finally a pet, but he supposed it was a good thing. Pets only became distractions, and Cloud did not need distractions.

Cloud was going to be a SOLDIER.

 


	15. 25. Trouble Lurking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My attempt at a sadistic one-shot about the remnants Kadaj, Loz and Yazoo for MemoriesofWar on deviantart.

Yazoo gracefully moved his fork up to his mouth and took the food in with his teeth, keeping his head up straight so that his hair didn't fall in his way at all. He absolutely hated having to pull his hair out of his mouth while eating food – it meant he had to wash his hair _again_ when he already washed it three times a day!

"Hurry up," Kadaj suddenly snapped, sitting across from his older brother and glaring angrily. He was such an impatient boy.

"You cannot rush meals," Yazoo said after swallowing his mouthful and reaching for another. "Where would be the fun in that?"

Loz rolled his eyes from where he sat between them and shifted his head from one hand to the other, thoroughly bored. They had been sitting in the restaurant for two hours now as Yazoo gorged himself on everything that caught his fancy. In comparison, Loz and Kadaj had eaten just enough to satisfy their hunger.

"I want to go back to the bikes," Kadaj said, starting to stand.

"You're not even going to wait for me to finish?" Yazoo asked, feigning a hurt expression.

"Not if you take all day," Kadaj replied, scraping his chair across the floor loudly before stalking away in a huff.

Yazoo sighed and looked down at the rest of his food longingly, knowing that if he and Loz didn't leave now they'd never catch up to Kadaj.

"I suppose that means it's time to go," he grumbled, taking his napkin off his lap and folding it neatly on the table. He stood up and Loz followed suit, the two of them making their way to the door and ignoring the frantic look of the waiter who had served them. Of course, they had absolutely no intention of paying for the food and no one was going to force them to.

Once outside, Yazoo and Loz spotted Kadaj heading towards the alley beside the restaurant and walked swiftly after him, knowing he was heading for the bikes and would probably ride out as soon as he got to them. Where would he go? That was anyone's guess.

But when the two older brothers reached the alleyway, they saw something they had not been expecting. Apparently Kadaj had not been expecting it either since he stood stock still and simply stared for a few moments.

There were two men on two of the bikes, laughing their drunken heads of and preparing to ride out. They hadn't managed to look up and see that they had company yet.

Kadaj slowly turned his head back to his brothers before giving a nod and facing the bikes again.

"Hello Gentlemen," he said, announcing himself to the men.

Their laughs decreased somewhat as they looked up and saw the silver-haired men now sharing the alleyway.

"Whaddaya want?" one man slurred out, his voice heavy from the alcohol.

"We'd like our bikes actually," Kadaj said, taking slow steps towards them. "So you'll have to remove yourselves."

"Cheh," the second man scoffed. "These pro'lly ain't even yours!"

"Hmm, I suppose we don't have any way of proving it to you that we own them..." Kadaj sighed. "I really wish you could have just trusted us."

"J'st get outta here!" The first man revved the engine of the bike he was on and Kadaj suddenly narrowed his eyes angrily.

"Bad move."

With a flick of his wrist to signal to his brothers, Kadaj leaped forward grabbed the man's shirt, lifting him off the bike and flinging round to slam him against the brick wall of the alleyway. Loz had run forward and taken the second man, doing the same thing to him.

Instinctively, the men tried to fight Loz and Kadaj off them, struggling with all their might and yelling loud curses as the silver-haired men only held tighter.

"You should have thought twice before crossing us," Kadaj whispered to his victim, keeping one hand pressing against the chest to keep him against the wall and moving his other hand to the face, stroking gently before suddenly digging him fingers in and dragging them down to make the skin bleed. The man screamed out in pain and writhed even more, grabbing at Kadaj, but the young man only threw his head back and laughed.

"Please let us go! We'll leave you alone!" the second man begged, horrified to see what had happened to his friend.

"Quiet," Loz snapped, making the man cower in fear and shut his mouth instantly.

"If you ever touch my bike again," Kadaj was saying to his victim in a cold voice, "I will see to it that you never breathe again. At least, not after some more torture that is."

The man, with blood now clotting on his face, nodded desperately.

"Kadaj," Yazoo called from where he stood beside his bike. "We should go now. They've learnt their lesson."

Kadaj clenched his teeth together and made a low hissing sound as he stepped back, allowing the man to get his own balance back and hurriedly scamper away. Loz then let go of the other man and he too ran off, out of the alleyway and after his friend.

"What a shame it's over," Kadaj said as he moved over to his bike. "That was fun."

As they all mounted their bikes, rain slowly began to drizzle down and the night turned into a gloomier place. Riding out of the alleyway and along the road, the three brothers headed off to an unknown destination, with Kadaj hoping for more 'fun' like what they had just encountered, Yazoo hoping for another descent meal and Loz hoping he could keep it together and not cry until they got there.

 


	16. 26. Tears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All Sephiroth wanted was to get a haircut with no distractions. But Lazard wants to see him and someone else is shocked to meet him at the hair salon...

The door to the hair salon swung open and a young man strode through towards the front desk.  
  
"Hey, I'd like a simple trim," he said, leaning casually on the wooden bench.  
  
"Of course, like usual," the woman who sat behind said with a smile. He nodded his head and turned around to glance innocently at the other people in the room. There was an old lady near the door getting a perm and a boy sitting down one seat having thick amounts of gel lathered into his hair. The man who had entered raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Please take a seat," the woman behind the desk said, gesturing towards the seat on the other side of the boy.  
  
"Thanks." The man went and sat down, reaching over to pick up one of the magazines that had been discarded by an earlier customer. Another hair dresser walked out from the back and came over, smiling widely.  
  
"Hey!" she said.  
  
"Hey, Jess," he replied.  
  
"You come here every month, gosh! I guess it pays off, your hair is so long now!" she exclaimed, taking a look at his hair that almost touched the floor.  
  
"Yeah," he shrugged, putting the magazine back down. "Can you just trim it a bit again?"  
  
"The more I cut your hair, the more it grows. Sheesh, you'll have the place swamped in a few days!" Jess laughed and picked up the pair of scissors, getting ready to cut his hair. The boy sitting besides him looked across and stared, eyes slowly widening in shock.  
  
"S-Sephiroth!?" the boy gasped. "Is that you? Oh my gosh it is! Can I have your autograph? Please? I wanna be a SOLDIER! You're my hero! Oh my gosh! I'm gonna cry!" By now, the boy had jumped off his chair and crawled across the floor towards Sephiroth, grabbing at his sleeves.  
  
"What?" Sephiroth asked, not quite catching everything that was said because he had spoken so fast.  
  
"Pleeease!!" the boy cried, tears beginning to roll down his cheeks. "I've always wanted to meet you! What do you think of me? Will I make it into SOLDIER?"  
  
"Not if you keep acting like that," Sephiroth snapped, agitated. The boy flinched and backed off slightly, but continued to stare up in awe.  
  
"Just a bit off the ends, right?" Jess asked, acting as if the whole scene with the boy had not just happened.  
  
"Yes please," Sephiroth said, fixing his eyes straight ahead at the mirror.  
  
"Oh my gosh, I go to the same hair dresser as Sephiroth!" the boy suddenly exclaimed, seeming to finally clue into that _very_ important fact. Sephiroth rolled his eyes and sighed, wishing for a moment that he wasn't as popular as he was. Jess started humming, and Sephiroth managed to concentrate on it. Soon he had forgotten that he had a boy in tears on the ground beside him.  
  
"Seph! For goodness sake turn your phone on! Lazard's been trying to reach you for half an hour!" Someone else had burst through the door to the hair salon and come hurtling towards Sephiroth. Jess quickly stepped back and put the scissors down to avoid stabbing anyone and causing unnecessary injuries.  
  
"Huh? Oh hi Zack," Sephiroth said, only giving the black-haired SOLDIER a short glance before going back to staring blankly at the mirror.  
  
"Seriously! You're needed!" Zack said. He turned to Jess and clasped his hands in front of himself pleadingly. "Can you please cut his hair really quickly and then let him come back with me? If I don't bring him back Lazard is going to seriously murder me! No joke! And he's a very scary man to begin with! When he starts threatening people they tend to run away with their tails between their legs! Figuratively speaking of course, because people don't actually have tails. But you know, it would actually be pretty cool to have a tail! Man, now I wish I was a dog or something. You could be a cat! They have tails! And I don't mean you're not good enough to be a dog, it's just that cats are more feminine and-"  
  
"Zack Fair, shut up." Sephiroth swiftly shut him up with four simple words.  
  
"Don't worry, it won't be much longer," Jess assured Zack, turning back to Sephiroth and picking up the scissors again to continue the job.  
  
"Oh my gosh! Another SOLDIER!" the boy gasped, tears streaming down his face all over again. Zack looked over at him and raised an eyebrow, stepping away slightly in fright. The door opened again and someone who looked a lot like the face that the boy had seen on the poster advertising ShinRa walked in.  
  
"Seph? Oh, Zack's come to get you. Okay then never mind." He turned and was about to leave when a voice interrupted him.  
  
"Holy Gaia!" The boy fell over backwards onto the floor and passed out.  
  
"Is he alright?"  
  
"He's fine."  
  
"Are you sure, Seph?"  
  
"He's fine."  
  
"Seriously Seph, he's been crying. What did you do to him?"  
  
"Genesis. He's fine."  
  
"He was scary! I'm so glad he fainted," Zack said cheerfully.  
  
"There! All done!" Jess smiled down at Sephiroth and put away everything she'd been using.  
  
"Thanks," Sephiroth said, moving to stand up. "And now, before Zack starts having nightmares about Lazard, let's go back." The three SOLDIER's left, with Sephiroth dropping some gil on the counter on his way.

 


	17. 29. Happiness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zack thinks Angeal has given him a rabbit for his birthday. He is mistaken.

Zack stepped into his room and froze. On his bed there sat a bunny rabbit with large floppy ears and grey fur. It watched him carefully as he crossed over towards it and he made a stuttering noise.

"ANGEAL! YOU REMEMBERED MY BIRTHDAY!" Zack yelled out in excitement, scooping the rabbit into his arms and ignoring as it squirmed in terror.

"No I didn't! When's your birthday?" Angeal called back from another room of the apartment they both shared together with Genesis and Sephiroth. Zack ignored him however, and began stroking the rabbit behind its' ears.

"Aww, you're such a cutie! What shall I call you? Hmm..." Zack continued to stroke the soft fur of the rabbit and sat down on his bed. Only then did he realise how much it was squirming because it almost wriggled right off his lap. "Whoa! Careful there. You don't want to fall, do you?"

"Zack, who are you talking to?" Angeal's voice was closer and then he appeared in the doorway, peering inside to see what his student was getting up to.

"George! I'll call him George!" Zack exclaimed as he looked up at Angeal. His eyes were bright with happiness and the smile on his face could not be matched.

"Where did you find him?" Angeal asked in a worried tone. It was hard enough having to look after the puppy; what would it be like with two pets in the house?

"He was on my bed! It's like fate brought us together." Zack sighed happily. The rabbit squirmed harder and made loud breathing sounds that suggested it was having a heart attack.

"Zack, I think you're scaring it," Angeal said.

"Yeah... but I'm being really kind!" Zack argued desperately. A pout appeared on his face as he struggled to hold the rabbit still and Angeal let out a loud sigh as he came over to try and help.

"You know, for some reason this rabbit reminds me of someone," Angeal mumbled as he pushed the rabbit gently back onto Zack's lap from where it had slipped off.

"That's what I thought!" Zack agreed with a quick nod of his head.

"Any ideas who?" Angeal asked.

"Well first I thought it looked like Hojo but then I was like nah: it would look more like Hojo if it had glasses on. Oh! Can we try it?" Zack pleaded.

"No."

"You're so boring! Anyway, then I thought it reminded me of Sephiroth and-"

"Oh my gosh you're right!" Angeal exclaimed, stepping back to stare at the rabbit. It turned his head to look at him and stopped squirming, its eyes appearing to be trying to tell him something.

"What, you think it looks like Seph too?" Zack questioned, looking down at 'George'.

"Yes... in fact I'd bet a lot of money that it actually _is_ him," Angeal said thoughtfully. Zack looked up at his mentor with a face that plainly stated he thought the older man was insane.

"No! You guessed!"

Angeal turned around to see Genesis standing in the doorway with a devastated yet incredibly amused expression.

"You turned Sephiroth into a rabbit?" Angeal asked.

"Yes. As payback for all the things he did to me when ZACK turned ME into a CAT!" Genesis explained, spitting some words out with extra force than others.

"So you put him on Zack's bed so that he could see what it was like to have someone think you're cute?" Angeal probed further.

"Yes."

"Oh my gosh this is _Sephiroth_!?" Zack exclaimed in horror, pushing the rabbit off his lap in one swift movement which resulted in the poor creature landing on the floor. "I thought it was a birthday present!"

"Look, just turn him back," Angeal said to Genesis.

"Why?" the red-head teased. After a deadly glare from Angeal, he sighed and walked over to turn Sephiroth back into a human. It was done in only a few seconds and then Sephiroth stood there once again.

"Genesis, if I were you I'd start running."

 


	18. 30. Under the Rain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Today is the day Cloud leaves for Midgar. It's raining. Cloud/Tifa

Cloud had all his bags packed and ready to go. It was raining outside, but he didn't care. The day had finally come. He was going to ShinRa to become a SOLDIER.

Picking up his bags, he left his room and walked to the front door. He and his mother had already said goodbye to each other the other day, as Cloud said it would be quicker for him if he didn't have to hang around hugging her in the morning.

He paused at the door and looked over his shoulder at the inside of the house he knew so well and loved. He grinned and turned back to the door, turning the handle and stepping outside, shutting it behind him quietly.

Setting off quickly so that he wasn't in the rain for too long, he made his way towards the bus stop. He glanced at his watch to make sure he was on time and then ducked under the shelter and put his bags down, ready to wait for the bus to come.

He felt himself trembling slightly and couldn't figure out whether it was the cold or his nerves. Probably a mix of both.

He sat down on the edge of the seat, staring out into the rain and picturing himself as a SOLDIER saving people from monsters and other things. His heart thudded in anticipation and he took another look around for the bus. He began tapping his feet, trying to warm up. The rain seemed to be getting a bit heavier.

He continued to wait, glancing at his watch a lot to check the time and looking around for the bus. It was early in the morning and this particular bus was specifically coming to pick him up and take him to Midgar.

Oh gosh. He was going to _Midgar_.

He glanced down at the clothes he was wearing and felt his cheeks go red. He looked like a stereotypical country boy, so he would definitely need to go shopping once he got there. He couldn't imagine wandering around in Midgar looking like this, so what had he been thinking when he put it on this morning?

Sighing, he took another look around for the bus.

What he saw was not what he had been looking for, but it was definitely something he didn't mind seeing. His eyes widened and he stood up. Tifa was running towards the bus stop.

Without even giving it a second thought, Cloud ducked out from under the shelter and ran to meet her, wrapping his arms around her and guiding her back to where he had been, out of the rain.

"Tifa?" he asked.

"I c-couldn't let you go without s-saying goodbye!" Tifa said, shivering from the cold. Cloud pulled her closer slightly.

"I'll come back, don't worry," Cloud reassured her.

"Good. Cause if you don't I'll come after you," Tifa joked, giggling. Cloud smiled and shook his head in amusement.

"Look after my mum for me, okay?" Cloud said quietly. Tifa tilted her head to look up at him and grinned.

"Sure," she said.

Two lights pierced through the rain, and Cloud looked over his shoulder to see the bus pulling up. The driver opened the door and then gestured for Cloud to get in.

"I have to go," Cloud said softly.

"Write to me," Tifa ordered.

"I will. I promise," Cloud said. He didn't let go for a moment, just staring down into her eyes. "Tifa-"

She didn't wait to find out what he had been going to say, but boldly leant up and kissed him, twisting her arms behind his neck.

Cloud didn't quite know what to do. He had always had a crush on Tifa, but hadn't thought she felt the same way. Shyly kissing her back, he felt his face flame up in embarrassment.

"I love you Cloud. Become a SOLDIER for me," Tifa whispered once she pulled away. She grabbed some of his bags and handed them to him, smiling. He stared down at her, a slight dazed look in his eyes as he stumbled with his bags a bit.

"I- I will," he stuttered. Tifa giggled.

Turning, Cloud walked into the bus and put his things down on a seat. He moved over to the window, waving to her as the bus driver closed the door and began pulling away. Tifa's face was lit up in a smile, and she followed the bus for a few metres. She had walked out into the rain and because of that Cloud couldn't tell whether she was crying or not.

Once the bus was too far away for him to see her he sat down and sighed, listening to the sound of the rain coming down onto the bus.

He watched the countryside flash past and shivered in excitement.

He was on his way to Midgar.

To become a SOLDIER.

 


	19. 31. Flowers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sephiroth has recently been to the labs and is now feeling quite strange. Happy, even. Is this a good thing? "Would you like me to braid your hair?"

The door to Sephiroth's office was open. That alone was enough to make anyone suspicious. The General was very stern about having no one invade his privacy, so to see the door open made anyone think something was wrong.

Angeal had walked around the corner, heading for his office when he had seen the open door and stopped. Genesis was walking from the opposite direction and quickened his steps to reach Angeal.

"Hey, what's up with Seph?" Angeal asked, worried.

"Whatever you do, don't go in there," Genesis warned. "He's just come back from the labs and something happened that has left him a little... unbalanced."

"If he's upset, wouldn't he have his door closed?" Angeal questioned.

"Oh, he's not upset." Genesis shook his head, allowing the smallest smirk to appear on his face. Angeal raised an eyebrow.

"Then why can't I go in there?" he asked.

"Because if you do, you won't come out the same," Genesis informed him, the smirk disappearing.

"Gen, just tell me what's going on," Angeal said, folding his arms. Genesis stifled a chuckle and then shook his head again.

"If you really want to know, then go on inside his office. He won't mind." Genesis shrugged and stepped aside. Angeal frowned slightly but walked past his red-head friend and stopped in the doorway to Sephiroth's office.

What he saw right away was Sephiroth sitting in his chair with his feet up on his desk. He then noticed that Sephiroth was wearing sweatpants and a loose shirt and that his hair was in a long braid over one shoulder.

Not only that, but around the legs of his desk were various coloured flowers twisting their way up to reach the flat surface. Sephiroth also had a daisy chain around one wrist.

"Seph?" Angeal squeaked out. The General looked up from where he had been reading a book and smiled.

"Angeal! Would you like me to braid your hair?" he asked.

"Uh, no thanks," Angeal said, and quickly darted back over to Genesis.

"It was your own fault for going in there," Genesis said, shaking his head as if he was ashamed.

"He's a completely different person!" Angeal said. "What did they _do_ to him in the labs?"

"I don't know," Genesis shrugged. "But isn't it better this way? Maybe he'll lose focus when fighting and I'll beat him!"

"Gen! At this rate he's going to be starting protests against fighting altogether!" Angeal exclaimed. Genesis narrowed his eyebrows and had a mental image of Sephiroth walking down a street with a sign saying 'War Kills'.

"I doubt he'd go that far..." he muttered, not sounding sure of himself at all.

"We've got to do something to snap him out of it!" Angeal said.

Sephiroth suddenly appeared in the doorway of his office, smiling and looking over at them. He gave a small wave.

"Do you guys want to watch 'A Cinderella Story'?" he asked. Angeal blinked in response and Genesis burst out laughing.

"Seph, how 'bout we watch something more along the lines of 'Die Hard'?" Genesis asked, still trying hard not to laugh. Sephiroth narrowed his eyes and folded his arms.

"That's a stupid movie," he said, pouting slightly. "Besides, don't you ever get the urge to watch something romantic?"

Angeal frowned and backed up slightly, but Genesis sighed and nodded.

"Great! Gen, come watch it with me!" Sephiroth exclaimed. Angeal looked over at Genesis with a horrified expression.

"Uh, but..." Genesis looked over at Angeal, hating being stuck between the two of them. It was obvious that Angeal did _not_ want to watch 'A Cinderella Story'.

"Please? I've never seen it before and I wanna know what happens," Sephiroth whined.

"I guess, it wouldn't hurt..." Genesis muttered, taking two steps towards Sephiroth's office. Angeal made a squeaking noise and nothing else. "I'm sorry Angeal, you'll have to go find something else to occupy yourself with."

"Yeah! You could borrow my bunny slippers if you want." Sephiroth shrugged.

"You have bunny slippers?" Angeal asked quietly.

"Uh, I could buy some for you!" Sephiroth said, grinning. Angeal shuddered and shook his head quickly.

"No thanks, I'll just go do my paperwork." He turned and left, going into his office. Genesis shrugged and pushed past Sephiroth to go into his office.

"Can your laptop play movies?" he asked.

"Yeah." Sephiroth nodded and followed after him, taking a slight detour to grab the movie from its shelf and then popping it into the DVD player.

"Do you have popcorn?" Genesis asked eagerly. Sephiroth's eyes lit up and he nodded, grabbing the bowl he had prepared earlier. He handed it to Genesis and then grabbed two comfy chairs for them to sit on. Finishing getting the movie ready, he pressed play and the two friends sat down to watch it.

Because the door had been left open, passers-by were able to look in and see them both with their eyes glued to the screen and hear the sounds of which movie it was. Some very unfortunate passers-by managed to look in just at the part when the main character was embarrassed in front of everyone and Sephiroth burst out crying.

Needless to say, word soon spread around to steer clear of the floor Sephiroth's office was on.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's important to note that Sephiroth already owned A Cinderella Story. It was on his shelf. -sly wink-


	20. 35. Hold My Hand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Young Cloud is terrified of storms, and needs his mum to comfort him so he can sleep.

Cloud Strife whimpered, his seven-year-old body quivering in fright as he tried to hide underneath his covers. There was a storm raging outside and a crack of thunder brought yet another whimper out of the small boy.

He was so incredibly terrified that he thought his entire world was going to cave in. It scared him even more when every now and then a flash of lightning would be so bright that he'd see it through his sheet and blanket.

"Rain, rain, go away, come again ano- _ahh!_ " Cloud broke off his singing as a louder crash of thunder sounded and he clapped his hands over his ears, squeezing his eyes closed tightly. Tiny tears began worming their way out from under his eyelids and slid down his cheeks, leaving a silvery trail.

A loud bang sounded in his room and Cloud whimpered again, quietly sobbing in fear. His heart leapt into his throat as he felt his bed dip to the side slightly and he wondered whether he'd never see his mother ever again. Her beautiful face and comforting words would be something not cherished enough. She would be so sad that he'd died young and hadn't gotten a chance to-

"Cloud?"

Cloud squeaked and threw the covers off his head to look up at his mother's worried face. In an instant he had scrambled towards her and clung on for his life, sobbing on her shoulder. She wrapped her arms around him and rocked him gently back and forth, whispering comforting words in his ear which he was so thankful for.

The thunder didn't seem as loud any more, and the lightning not so bright. Cloud's crying slowly came to a stop, his face nuzzled into his mothers' neck and his breathing slow and steady again.

"Cloud, lay down and try to sleep, okay?" his mother urged softly, moving forward and gently placing him back onto his bed. His arms released her reluctantly and he stared up with wide eyes that spoke of his fear openly.

"Don't go," he pleaded.

"I'll stay until you fall asleep," she said with a smile, stroking his hair. Cloud blinked sleepily, a smile appearing on his own face as well.

"Mum?" he asked quietly, already half in dream-land.

"Yes?" she questioned, leaning down closer to his face to hear him properly.

"Can you hold m' hand?" he asked, his eyes drifting closed but fluttering open again as he was determined to stay awake for an answer. His mother smiled down at him warmly.

"Of course," she agreed, taking a firm hold of his little hand and squeezing gently to let him know she was there. He finally allowed his eyes to drift closed and fell asleep, but his mother didn't leave his side until an hour later when the storm had finally ended.

 


	21. 36. Precious Treasure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sephiroth thinks Rufus had something to do with it, but then Zack comes along with a rather familiar sounding story... run, Zack, run!

There was only one word to describe the atmosphere in that room at that very moment. And that word was tense. Sephiroth stood at one end of the room and Rufus Shinra stood at the other. Both of them were staring at each other with difficult to read expressions, and neither seemed willing to break the silence in order to speak first. Thankfully, the one person who is very talented in the art of breaking tense and awkward silences bounded in through the door at that moment, eyes wide and mouth drawn up into a huge grin.

"Hey Seph!" Zack said happily, unaware that he was interrupting something incredibly serious.

"What is it," Sephiroth asked, although it wasn't really a question. More of just a response to being spoken to and trying to make sense. He did not break eye contact with Rufus Shinra. Zack didn't notice that he was being spoken to in a practically zombie-like way, and then proceeded to tell Sephiroth exactly why he had come.

"Well I was just walking around like little old bored me, and I came across a really interesting sight! I mean, _really_ interesting! Cause everything's interesting, but this was absolutely EPICALLY interesting, ya know? So I was looking at it and was getting really excited because it was so _shiny_ Seph! It was sooo shiny! And I was so excited! So I bent down to-"

Sephiroth shut Zack up with a simple hand being held in front of his face, slowly turning his head to look at the black-haired SOLDIER.

"You what? You saw... something interesting? And it was... shiny?" Rufus Shinra also glanced over at Zack, raising an eyebrow. Zack slowly nodded in response to what Sephiroth asked and the silver-haired General turned back to the President of ShinRa. "My apologies sir, it appears I have accused you wrongly," Sephiroth said.

"It's forgotten," Rufus said, sitting down and waving his hand carelessly.

"Oh my gosh, it was _yours_?" Zack yelped, staring at Sephiroth with eyes that were suddenly much wider. Sephiroth turned to look at him again and nodded, seemingly very patient. Zack gulped. "Was it uh... precious? To you?" he asked cautiously.

Sephiroth's patience seemed to be snapped in an instant and he shoved Zack against the wall, anger covering his face and practically spilling from his ears.

"What. Did. You. Do?" he said slowly, making sure that the question made it's way into Zack's mostly hazy brain.

"I slipped... it was an accident!" The next words that the terrified puppy said came out very rushed. "I couldn't help it I mean one moment I was admiring it's beauty and wondering how it worked and then the next I was flat on my back being blown in the face with something hot and so I tried to defend myself and then something smashed and look it cut my wrist! But then I fled and hid behind a cupboard so-"

Sephiroth silenced him again, letting him go and turning away. "I never want to see you again," he whispered.

"Oh come on it was an accident!"

Sephiroth seemed to be struggling with something, and when he turned back to Zack, the poor kid almost screamed in terror at the fury in those cold eyes. "Is it destroyed beyond repair?" Somehow, the voice that came out was calm.

"Y-yes." Zack whimpered in response. Sephiroth went to leave, but Zack's next question stopped him. "What _was_ it? I can't just forget about it! It was so interesting and shiny! Please! Just tell me what it was!"

Sephiroth took a deep breath and then let it out, allowing a few words to escape with the air. "My hair dryer." And then he was gone out the door and Zack was left in Rufus Shinra's office. Not for long however, as Zack realised where he was and fled for the second time that day.

 


	22. 38. Abandoned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cloud watched his father walk out of his life.

Cloud sat on the doorstep to his house. His chin rested in his hands as he stared out into space, only one thing occupying his thoughts. _Father._

Cloud had watched his father carry his suitcase out of the room and head for the door. He'd seen his father pause and turn back to spot him, standing awkwardly in the hallway. He had watched as his father left his suitcase and walked over to put a hand on his shoulder, smiling a sad smile.

"It's better this way, Cloud," his father had said quietly. "I'm sorry."

Cloud hadn't said anything. He had watched his father sigh, straighten up, and walk back over to his things. The door was pulled open and the man who Cloud had looked up to for five years walked out of his life.

It was now morning, and Cloud was sitting in the same place he had been sitting in for seven hours. His father had walked out of his life at one o'clock in the morning.

What had he done to make his father leave?

"David? Cloud!?"

The door opened and Cloud turned to see his mother standing there. Her hand went to cover her mouth for only a moment before she then hugged him. He didn't say anything. _I'm sorry, mum._

"Cloud, oh Cloud. I thought he'd taken you with him!" she sobbed, picking him up and taking him back inside the house.

Cloud found himself clinging onto her shirt and crying against her as well. The image of his father walking out that door stayed in his mind, and he cried harder as if doing so would shove it from his thoughts.

"I'm so sorry, Cloud. I'm sorry this had to happen," his mother said, sitting down and rocking him gently. He still didn't speak, unable to think of anything to say. _Why are you sorry, mum?_

Cloud never saw his mother cry again after that day.

His father never came back.

He didn't care.

 


	23. 39. Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cissnei makes a drastic decision that will change her future. But she'll never regret it. Not even for a second.

Cissnei didn't speak to anyone as she walked towards Tseng's office, holding a form in her hand protectively. She was glad that no one stopped her to ask what she was doing either, because she didn't want to have to speak the words aloud. She had never expected herself to do anything so completely irrational.

Pausing outside, she had to forcefully lift her hand and knock on the door so that she didn't have much time to think about her decision, even though it was already running through her head at a million miles an hour.

Thankfully the door opened after only a moment.

"May I speak to you, Sir?" Cissnei asked as Tseng appeared there. He nodded and stepped back, allowing her to enter the room before closing the door and moving back to sit at his desk.

"This is definitely a surprise. Aren't you supposed to be on a mission?" he asked curiously.

"I had to come back and..."

"Yes?" he asked, giving her his attention and waiting patiently. He assumed it had to be something important, since she had come back from a mission earlier than she was meant to. In fact, if she hadn't been who she was, a girl of merely sixteen – no, seventeen now – he probably would have punished her in some way.

"I just... wanted to hand you my..." Cissnei swallowed nervously and found herself unable to finish the sentence, deciding instead just to hand him the form she held and let him figure it out for himself.

So, holding it out, she waited as he took it before dropping her hand again and letting out a sigh, because she realised that there was no turning back now.

Tseng skimmed his eyes over the form quickly before looking back up and narrowing his eyes, folding his arms.

"You are an excellent Turk, Cissnei," he said quietly. "Why this?"

"I have to," she said defiantly, wanting it to be over so she could walk out and not be forced to answer any more questions.

"I'm not sure if I should allow this," Tseng said thoughtfully and Cissnei held her breath nervously. "You are incredibly valuable. Have you fallen in love with Zack Fair?"

Cissnei's cheeks burned in embarrassment and she shook her head stiffly.

"I just don't want to continue any more," she said. "I'm only seventeen. I... I want to do other things with my life."

Tseng was silent for a moment and picked up her form again, reading through it more thoroughly than he had before. After a few moments of silence he sighed and looked up, not looking very happy.

"Alright," he said slowly. "But it's only because you're young with your whole life ahead of you to realise your mistake and come back."

Cissnei slowly let out the breath she was holding.

"Thank you."

After only a bit more discussion about what would happen, Cissnei walked out of the ShinRa building as a civilian. She didn't know whether she would ever return, but for now she knew exactly what she was planning on doing.

* * *

 

When Cissnei arrived in Modeoheim a few days later, she didn't know where to go first. Last she knew, this was where Zack had been headed, so she hoped either he or the person he was following was still there.

The houses that she could see all looked as though they were falling apart and she sighed quietly to herself, pulling her jacket tighter to keep warm.

She chose to walk aimlessly at first, not knowing where to go and deciding to wander in the hopes of seeing something that might give her a clue of what to do next. Any one of the abandoned houses could be where he was, so was she meant to investigate every single one?

Standing still for a moment and closing her eyes, Cissnei tried to concentrate. Why was it that just because she had set off on a mission of her own she suddenly couldn't remember anything she had been taught? It was like she had been stripped of all her knowledge and she felt exposed without it.

With her eyes still closed, she suddenly heard a sound behind her. It sounded like footsteps on the snow coming closer to her.

Her heart speeding up rapidly, she opened her eyes and spun around, ready to face whatever was there even if it was a monster of some sort.

Her shock at what she saw made her slip on the ground, embarrassing her as she had to fight to keep standing. Her cheeks burned as the blood rushed to them and she lowered her eyes, wishing the snow would swallow her up.

"He left already," the man in front of her said softly. "You won't find him here."

"You mean Zack?" she asked, looking up again. She wished her heart would slow down so that the man's mako enhanced ears wouldn't have a chance of hearing the fast pace and wondering what was wrong with her.

"He's the one you're meant to be following, isn't he?" the man asked curiously.

"Well, I was. But I-" Cissnei swallowed nervously. "I quit."

The man froze, his eyes widening as they stared at her.

"Cissnei..." he whispered, slowly taking the last few steps to her so that he was standing right in front of her. "Why did you do that?"

"I had to find you," Cissnei said quickly and quietly.

"No, no this is stupid-"

"Please, Genesis! You don't understand. I need you!" Cissnei said in a rush, looking up at him with wide, hopeful eyes that pierced into him. She felt as though she was going to cry just from watching him, as she hadn't realised the full extent of his degradation.

"I'm a monster, Cissnei," Genesis murmured, reaching out a hand to carefully wipe a stray tear that had escaped. "There's no hope."

"You are _not_ a monster!" Cissnei cried, not being able to hold herself together any longer and suddenly throwing herself into his arms. Genesis stumbled backwards in shock before tentatively putting his arms around her and hugging her.

"Cissnei..."

"I always wanted to be able to fly," Cissnei murmured into his chest. "So please, let me stay with you."

Genesis didn't speak for a while, simply enjoying the feel of holding her. But he knew it wouldn't last. "Cissnei, it's too dangerous."

"I can look after myself!" Cissnei retorted, her hands tightening around him and small tremors from her body being passed on to his.

"I don't doubt that. But I can't promise you that _I'll_ -"

He stopped, not wanting to finish that and half hoping she wouldn't even know what he had been going to say. But her whole body tensed and slowly, so slowly, she lifted her head to look up at him. There were tears in her eyes and shock all over her face.

"You'll find someone," she whispered. "Someone to help you."

"What if I don't?" Genesis asked, posing the question to her in almost a whisper. It was then that Cissnei realised how tired he looked. It was amazing how he could pull himself together in front of her and actually convince her for a while that he was fine.

"I still want to be with you," Cissnei replied.

"What will you do if I die?" he asked, his voice louder now. He gently pushed her away from him and shook his head. "I don't want you to be around if that happens."

"What makes you so sure that you're going to die?" Cissnei asked with an annoyed frown.

"I'm just trying to prepare you for the worst," he said.

"I'm prepared," Cissnei said defiantly. "But I don't believe you're going to die."

Genesis frowned and turned away from her, not wanting to look in her eyes any more. They only showed just how serious she was and he wished she wasn't. He didn't want to have to worry about her being with him. He just wanted to go back to believing that she was working as a Turk and would still be there when – and if – he came back.

"Are you going to let me stay?" Cissnei asked nervously after a moment, fearing his silence.

"You may have to wait a few days before you get to fly," Genesis murmured to her with a sigh. "If you can do that then... I have nothing else to say."

"Nothing else to say at all?" Cissnei asked quietly, stepping closer to him again and slipping her slender fingers between his, holding tightly. "Because I could think of something."

"I'm not apologising," Genesis said instantly. "I'm not sorry."

"I was thinking more along the lines of," she stood on tiptoe, moving so that her lips were as close to his ear as possible before finishing with, "I love you."

Genesis swallowed and turned to face her, pain in his eyes. "You know I do."

"I'm sorry Genesis, but I can't bear to be without you any longer," Cissnei murmured, leaning forward to kiss his cheek.

"I forgive you for it," Genesis whispered, taking a deep breath and then pulling her against him tightly, closing his eyes. Hugging her like this, he never wanted to let go again.

 


	24. 41. Teamwork

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Follows on from '1. Introduction' and is then followed by '62. Magic'.
> 
> Reno learns to assimilate as a Turk and really enjoys using an EMR.

"Let go, yo!" Reno struggled, a frown fixed to his face as he tried to make his new acquaintance, Rude, let go of him.

"Please stop squirming," Rude said.

"Oh yeah, sure! Like I'm just gonna stop 'cause you said please, yo!" Reno snapped angrily, shoving his butt out behind him as he tried to wriggle backwards away from the tall bald-headed man. Rude quirked an eyebrow.

"I may have to incapacitate you," Rude warned.

"I'm sure that would have a better effect if I knew what it meant, yo," Reno replied, still intent on getting away. Rude sighed, rolling his eyes, and slammed one of his palms down on the back of Reno's neck.

The red-head slumped on his arm, now unconscious. Rude dragged him to the side of the room and sat him on a chair, slightly put-off that he'd had to knock out his new partner on their first day of working together.

"Rude, how's it-"

Maik was another Turk, though he had higher status than Rude did, and he paused after entering the room and seeing Reno passed out on a chair.

"Not well," Rude answered the cut-off question.

"I see," Maik said, observing the situation. "I heard he was pretty hard to handle..."

"He just needs to learn. He'll get it soon enough," Rude said.

"You sound pretty optimistic. Isn't he a nut case?" Maik asked. "I heard he defended someone who was part of Avalanche."

"Yes, that's correct," Rude nodded. "But that doesn't mean he can't learn to be one of us. I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve."

"Good," Maik nodded slowly and then turned to leave. "Too bad you have to wait for him to wake up before trying anything else."

Rude watched as Maik left and then took a seat near his partner. The red-head looked strangely peaceful and harmless while he was asleep, but Rude knew better. This boy, Reno, was incredibly skilled.

What kind of a kid could calculate exactly when to throw a glass plate in order to stop a bullet from reaching its target? And certainly, that could have been a fluke, but Rude had seen the look of concentration on Reno's face right before he'd thrown it.

Rude also wondered about Reno's parents. What had they done when Reno hadn't come home last night? Did they know he'd been at a bar? Or perhaps he just didn't have any parents at all.

What had he been doing at that bar in the first place? Just looking for trouble, or was he working for someone else, hence the skills?

Rude shifted and sighed, annoyed that he had so many questions and no answers. One more glance at his partner proved he would not find out easily.

"Owww..." Reno whined, a hand going to the back of his neck as he slowly woke up. Rude remained motionless, waiting for the boy to completely wake up and notice him himself. "I so should'a seen that comin', yo," Reno muttered to himself.

Reno suddenly tensed, his eyes scanning the room in paranoia and then landing on Rude. He leapt to his feet, staggering slightly as his head tried to catch up with the movement, and then put his weight on the balls of his feet.

He was in a defensive stance. Rude was impressed.

"Before you decide to do something stupid again, let me explain to you what I have planned for today," Rude slowly stood up. "I'm going to give you a weapon to see how well you work with it, and I'm going to trust you not to harm _me_ with it. Do you understand?"

Reno scoffed.

"Sure, yo. Trust me all you want."

Rude narrowed his eyes, but pulled his own weapon from his belt loop and handed it to the red-head. Reno paused in slight shock that the man was _still_ trusting him even after what he'd said. But he took the weapon anyway and grinned when he saw it was an Electro-Mag Rod.

"If you'd like me to explain how to use it-"

Reno lunged at Rude, his new weapon held in front of him like he used it every day. Rude, however, didn't flinch until he heard the slight buzzing sound coming from it.

How on Gaia had Reno managed to turn on the _taser_?

Stepping out of the way swiftly, Rude managed to grab Reno's wrist in one hand and held it far away from his body. In a sudden instant there was a hot stinging on Rude's side and he hissed in pain, looking down to see Reno's body twisted in a strange way and with the Electro-Mag Rod now in his other hand.

The kid was quick.

Shoving Reno away from him, Rude tilted his head to study him. He had taken up a defensive stance again, a sneer on his face as he obviously thought he'd gotten the better of the experienced Turk.

"You managed to turn it on and you managed to get me. Good work."

Reno frowned, wondering why Rude wasn't angry at him for disobeying.

"You've got a lot of talent," Rude continued, turning and walking to the side of the room where another Electro-Mag Rod was leaning against the wall. He picked it up and faced Reno again, raising an eyebrow in a silent challenge.

"Well if you're gonna act like this, yo..." Reno trailed off, a smirk on his face again as he got ready to attack.

The two charged at each other and brought their weapons together, a loud 'clang' resounding in the room. Reno used the impact to push backwards and spin around, coming from a different angle and swiping at Rude's head.

The bald man ducked and shoved his weapon at Reno's stomach as he did so. He narrowly missed as the red-head jumped back.

"Almost had ya," Reno taunted.

The two circled for a while longer, glaring at each other, and then the door opened. Reno spun around to face who had entered and in the process his arm flung out behind him. He felt _and_ heard a thud.

"Ha! Got you, yo!" Reno rejoiced after having realised that it was only Rude he'd hit.

"Sir, are you alright?"

Rude rubbed his head carefully and looked over to where another Turk stood in the doorway with their Electro-Mag Rod in front of them defensively.

"Yes, thank you," Rude said, nodding his head once.

"Maik wanted to talk to you," the young Turk said.

"Tell him I'll be there soon," Rude sighed. He reached forward to grab Reno's shirt and pulled him away from the door so that he wasn't standing in between it and Rude any more.

"Yes, sir," The Turk glanced warily at Reno and then left, shutting the door behind him again. Rude released his grip on Reno's shirt and turned to face him.

"Good work," he said.

"Are you being paid to train me?" Reno asked suddenly. Rude frowned slightly but nodded, figuring the question was harmless enough. "Are they gonna pay me for workin' for them, yo?"

"I... would assume so," Rude said thoughtfully. He actually didn't know. But every other Turk was paid, so why shouldn't Reno be as well?

"Sweet," Reno had a grin on his face again.

"Are you going to co-operate now then?" Rude asked, raising an eyebrow. If it had simply been a matter of telling the kid he was getting paid, why hadn't he thought of it earlier?

"Probably not," Reno shrugged. "You're all a bunch of low-lifes, yo."

"I see," Rude said. "That's a shame."

"Yeah? You only want me working for you 'cause I'm good, I reckon, yo," Reno said simply. Rude considered what he was saying and then nodded.

"That's possible."

"Well, what if I wanna join Avalanche? What do you guys do to traitors, yo?" Reno was obviously trying to make them let him go.

"We torture them, usually," Rude's voice was impassive.

"Hmm," Reno frowned in thought.

His mind then chose that moment to remind him of what the bald man had done before at the bar, and he saw the scene in his mind's eye again.

Rude had saved him from being shot. Rude had stopped his _superior_ from shooting him.

"I don't get you guys, yo," Reno mumbled. "One minute you're all ' _he's just a kid_ ' and the next you're like ' _we torture them_ '."

Rude shifted uncomfortably and shoved his Electro-Mag Rod through his belt loop again. With another sigh, he folded his arms.

"I've got a bit of a soft spot for kids, I guess you could say," he explained.

"You've got a soft spot for me?" Reno's face lit up eagerly, but by now Rude had clued in on Reno's expressions enough to know that he was looking for something to tease the man about later.

"I don't think children should be killed," Rude said firmly. "However, sometimes they do need to be punished."

"Are you a father?" Reno asked, his eyes still lit up mischievously.

Rude turned his head away and coughed. "No."

"Got the hots for someone though, ey?" Reno wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. Rude rolled his eyes and considered for a moment lunging at the kid and tasering him to death.

"Are you comfortable using an Electro-Mag Rod?" Rude asked to change the subject. Reno raised an eyebrow and then looked down at the weapon in his hand.

"Is _that_ what this thing is called?" he asked. "If so, then yeah! I'm comfortable, yo!" He was grinning that annoying grin again.

"How did you turn on the taser before?" Rude asked curiously. Reno raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, it's got a button on it. I figured it would be the taser, yo." He shrugged. Rude narrowed his eyes but nodded. That was understandable.

What _wasn't_ understandable was that so many new Turks in training had always taken ages to work the tasers when they first got given an Electro-Mag Rod.

"Maybe it won't be so bad being a Turk, yo," Reno said slowly, spinning his weapon in one hand absent-mindedly. He made it look like he'd been doing it all his life. "At least I'll get to pick on you." He grinned again, that annoying grin.

"Are you willing to co-operate then?" Rude asked.

"I guess," Reno shrugged. "But aren't I too young to be a Turk?"

"Usually we wouldn't accept people your age wanting to join. Seeing as it wasn't your choice in the beginning I believe it doesn't matter in this circumstance," Rude explained.

"Cool. I'm the youngest Turk, yo!" Reno beamed.

"Oh, President Shinra wanted to talk to you as well," Rude said as an after thought. Reno froze, his weapon swinging to point straight at the ground as he stopped twirling it.

"What?" he asked.

"President Shinra. He wants to talk to you." Rude smirked slightly at the boy's reaction.

"Do I get to taser him?" Reno asked.

"No."

"Then I don't wanna talk to him, yo," Reno turned away stubbornly, folding his arms.

"You don't have a choice," Rude said.

Rude walked closer to Reno and held his hand out, waiting patiently as the red-head glared up at him through his red bangs. Finally, Reno placed the Electro-Mag Rod in Rude's hand.

"The President will be pleased to see that you're co-operating so soon. We should go see him now," Rude suggested.

"Right now? Can't we wait a bit?" Reno whined.

"What exactly would we do while waiting?" Rude asked. "Besides, I also need to speak to Maik soon."

"Can't ya trust me to explore this place by myself while you talk to Maik, yo? Then when you're done there you can take me to the President." Reno shrugged.

"I don't think so," Rude shook his head.

"You're no fun, yo!" Reno whined again.

"If you say 'yo' one more time..." Rude muttered to himself. "Come on, I'll take you to the President and then we'll go find Maik."

" _We_? Why we?" Reno had a frown on his face once more.

"Because we're partners," Rude sighed.

"So?" Reno asked. He looked slightly disgusted by that thought.

"The more time we spend together, the better we'll work together. Now come _on_." Rude grabbed Reno's arm and headed for the door, ignoring the boy's complaints and squirms.

The last thing Reno did before Rude knocked him out again was snatch the Electro-Mag Rod from Rude's belt loop and shove it into his side, tasering him.

"This is going to be a long day," Rude muttered, shoving his weapon back into his belt loop and throwing Reno over his shoulder, carrying him towards the President's office.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story continues in '62. Magic'.


	25. 42. Standing Still

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rufus arrives at the ShinRa Headquarters in Midgar to find his father dead.

Rufus stood in the building of the ShinRa Headquarters, observing the scene before him. He had been contacted by Palmer and had come as fast as he could with his Guard Hound, but there didn't seem to be much he could do now. As far as he could tell, everyone that had been in the building was now dead.

Including his father, who lay on the ground in front of him.

Rufus wanted to leave. He wanted to walk out of that room with the proud feeling that he was now going to be the President of ShinRa. But all he could think was that now he had no father.

He was frozen where he stood, staring at the pale and lifeless skin on the man who he had never really liked.

Had he?

_What am I doing? I should be happy!_

Rufus closed his eyes, telling himself over and over again that it didn't matter. His father had put him under house arrest before, hadn't he? So there was no one to tell him what to do any more. He was free.

_Why does it hurt so much?_

His eyes burned, wanting so much to open and check that his father might still be alive, but he squeezed them shut tighter. He would not be weak. He would not!

His fingers curled into fists by his sides and he turned his face away in an attempt to escape what was happening.

_Out of sight, out of mind._

Forcing his feet to turn himself around, he opened his eyes and walked from the room silently. He could hear his Guard Hound padding along behind him slowly, and was thankful that there was no one else around to witness this.

_No one else... will witness... my tears._

 


	26. 46. Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Genesis Rhapsodos doesn't feel he belongs to his family. He tries to run away and the black feathery thing we love him for is discovered.

"Stop it! Leave me alone!" The door slammed shut and the small figure of a boy slumped against the wall, wrapping his arms around himself and shaking gently with quiet sobs.

"Come out of there!" There was a bang on the door and the boy pushed himself from the wall, running over to the window and unlatching it so that he could push it up and open. "Don't even think about running away again!"

"Get lost! You're not my father!" A gush of wind blew in the window and the boy with red hair began climbing out quickly.

"Where did you get that idea?" his father retorted, his voice sounding slightly panicked as he banged on the door again. The boy turned back to the window and poked his head in, staring angrily at the closed door.

"You don't have red hair! Or blue eyes!" he yelled. "You're not like me at all!" Hands reached from behind him and he yelped as he was pulled away from the window and thrown onto the ground.

"How dare you think of running away," his father said, looking down at him. He had come out and around while his son was 'talking to him' with his head in the window.

"Let me go!" the boy shouted, squirming and thrashing about in an attempt to get away.

"Why do you think we're not alike?" his father asked. "Hair colour and eye colour don't matter."

"Yes they do!" came the angry reply.

"Why, Genesis?" his father questioned softly.

"It just does! Let me go!" The boy gave a small cry of pain and rolled to the side so that his left shoulder was in the air.

"What is it?" his father asked, backing off slightly. There was no reply, though none was needed. Right before his eyes, a black wing sprouted from the left side of his son's back and then lay still.

Genesis' father stood up and slowly stepped away from his son. The boy was crying again, and his father could see the spots of blood around the base of the wing.

"They didn't say anything about this," he whispered.

"Go away! I hate you!" Genesis pushed himself up off the ground and began running. Hurriedly, his father took off after him.

"Come back! We can help you!" he called.

"Please, please, please!" Genesis muttered, squeezing his eyes shut tight and leaping off the ground. Feeling his wing and making it flap in the air, he cried out in pain. It hurt so much! However, he hadn't fallen yet. He could do it. He had to.

"Genesis!" his father yelled into the night air. It only took a few more moments and his son had disappeared into the blackness. He stopped running forwards and stared upwards, shaking his head lightly and then turning to go back to the house.

"Honey? What happened?" His wife walked out towards him, concern on her face. "Where's Genesis?"

"He's gone."

 


	27. 47. Creation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Genesis discovers his wing.

Genesis Rhapsodos slowly stumbled his way across the dark room, his hands reaching for something to grab onto. His breathing was ragged and as his hands found a chair he leaned heavily on it, as if summoning more strength. He let out a strangled cry as a second wave of pain rushed through him, causing him to slip down onto the floor.

His body convulsed and he broke out into a sweat, but he shoved himself back to his feet, desperate to find out what was happening to him. He used the chair he had found to steady himself, and then he stumbled over towards one of the walls to search for a light switch.

Mumbling angrily when he couldn't find one, he moved towards where he thought the bathroom was and only just managed to make it through the door before another wave of pain sent him to the floor again.

He lay there for a few minutes, allowing the pain to fade away again and some of his strength to return before attempting to stand once more. When he was on his feet, his hand fumbled against the wall and finally turned on the light.

He winced from the pain in his eyes because of the bright light and dragged himself over to the sink, slowly raising his head to look at his reflection in the mirror.

His hair was wet with sweat and there were dark circles around his eyes. The blue in his eyes had darkened severely and his skin was sickly pale. He looked down to where his hands were gripping the sink tightly, the knuckles white from the strain. They looked weak and stretched; unlike his hands at all.

Looking back up into the mirror, something caught his eye. He looked past himself in the reflection and stared slightly to the left, where something black was drooping. It looked like it started just under the height of his shoulder and went down to the floor. It was also coated in something which was dripping off it slowly. _Blood._

Feeling his heart racing in his chest, he slowly turned his head to look over his shoulder and confirmed what he had thought. He had a wing.

His eyes extended past the black object attached to his back and followed the trail of blood on the floor which went out to his bedroom, where he had come from.

Turning back to the mirror, Genesis stared in absolute disgust at his reflection. Is this what it had all been about? The occasional aches and pains he felt in his shoulder from time to time? Was it all because of this? Because some stupid wing that had been growing inside him?

Feeling sick, he vomited into the sink.

What was he supposed to do now? How would he clean that much blood from the carpet before anyone suspected anything? And how would he hide it from people so they didn't fear him?

_It's inevitable. They_ will _see it and they_ will _fear me._

He found himself trembling again and noticed tears running down from his eyes when he looked at his reflection in the mirror again.

This was it, then. There was nothing he could do to take it back or make it go away. He was stuck with it. This was who he was and he would have to deal with it.

"I'm..." Genesis gulped in air, squeezing his eyes tight and slipping down until he was sitting on the floor again. His hands still held pathetically to the sink that was now above him. He leant his head against his arms and allowed the sobs to wrack his weak frame.

" _I'm a monster!_ "

 


	28. 48. Childhood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mrs Strife should know better than to do Cloud's hair for him. A young Cloud in this one!

"Mu-um!" The small boy wriggled around and tried to escape his mothers' grip as she brushed his long blonde hair.

"Would you cut it out? Everyday you wake up and look like you've been attacked by angry squirrels or something. I'm just trying to make you look more presentable," his mother explained, giving him a sharp prod in the side which caused him to squeak.

"You're gonna make it go frizzy!" the boy whined, staring sadly into the mirror which was in front of him.

"I'm almost done, stop complaining." His mother dragged the brush through his hair again and again, working all the knots out of it completely and then finally stepping back and allowing him to work his fingers through the naturally silky strands.

Without saying a word he turned to run out of the room, but was grabbed and pulled into a hug. Rolling his eyes, he tried to wiggle free again.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" his mother asked. "It isn't knotty now and it still looks like you just got up!"

"So what, you're gonna rub it in now?" the boy snapped.

"Cloud, relax. Stop squirming or you'll get it knotty again! C'mere, let me put it up for you." Cloud managed to pull away and ran to the other side of the room, pushing his back against the wall and staring angrily at the woman who had brought him into the world.

"Stop touching my hair! If it's knotty in the morning tell me to brush it, don't just do it yourself! And I can do ponytails, so don't offer to do that for me either!" He panted slightly, and then sunk down onto the floor, lowering his eyes. There was a moment of silence but for the soft footsteps as his mother walked towards him.

"Here, use this." He looked up and slowly reached a hand out to take the hair elastic being given to him. His mother smiled slightly and then left the room.

"Honestly, mum's so stupid," Cloud muttered, pulling himself off the floor and walking over to sit on his bed. "I bet no one else has to tell their parents not to touch their hair." Flicking his head back, he guided his hair with his hands and slowly wrapped the hair elastic around it. Now moving his head to look down, he grinned as the shorter bits of his hair fell forward out of the ponytail. Just how he thought it looked best.

"Cloud! Tifa's here!" Cloud's head shot up to stare at his bedroom door and he took a deep breath, standing up and glancing in the mirror as he walked past it towards the door. With a timid grin, he left his room.

 


	29. 50. Breaking the Rules

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AU high school situation. Genesis and Minerva get framed for things they didn't do and both end up in detention together. Yuffie's behind it...

"It wasn't my fault!" came the protest from Genesis Rhapsodos as he stared in disbelief at his teacher.

"Listen, I don't want to hear any more back-chat from you. Attend your detention and get it over with; I don't care whose fault it was! And don't forget to stay back after school to clean up the mess." His teacher turned and walked away, her heels clicking on the floor.

"Man, this sucks!" Genesis groaned, turning around to face his group of friends who stood behind him. They all nodded, agreeing with what he said. "Honestly, I didn't even do it!" He shrugged and walked off, his friends slowly following him.

"This is one really weird school," one of his friends, Sephiroth, said while scuffing his shoe on the floor as he walked.

"Tell me about it." Genesis stuffed his hands into his pockets and sighed loudly. "Did you guys even know someone had graffiti'd the back wall?" he asked, glancing over his shoulder and then looking ahead again.

"Nope. It must've been someone really sneaky!" Sephiroth said, chuckling.

"Mm," Genesis grunted. "It worries me that someone could pull that off, get away with it and frame me all in one day."

* * *

"Oh my gosh, it worked!" Yuffie turned to her best friend and they hi-fived, both grinning from ear to ear as they had just seen Genesis get a detention. "This is perfect! Man, I can't wait to see the look on his face when he sees her in the room too!"

"I reckon! C'mon, we've gotta move quick or we'll never manage to frame her too," Yuffie's friend urged, tugging on her arm. Yuffie nodded and the two of them ran off again, grins still on their places to prove that they were up to no good.

* * *

 

"Hey, is that a name?" Sephiroth asked, pointing to a small blurred word on the bottom of one of the spray cans that had been shoved into Genesis' bag.

"It looks like... Rufus? Nah, that geek would never touch a spray can. Oh wait, it's Yuffie." Genesis stretched and narrowed his eyes to slits. It was obvious he was planning on revenge.

"What are you gonna do?" Sephiroth asked.

"Something mean," Genesis muttered, already thinking hard about what he could do to get back at her.

"Sounds fun. I gu-" Sephiroth was cut off as the bell rang and Genesis groaned, running a hand through his hair.

"Great, now we get to sit through an hour of Chemistry. Remind me again, why did I choose that subject?" Genesis snapped angrily, standing up and picking his bag up from the ground where they'd been sitting for recess.

"Oh, you're looking for a different kind of chemistry my friend! And she'll be sitting right in front of you, like usual." Sephiroth shoved his friend in the side, who instantly went red.

"Shut up," Genesis growled, a smile on his face.

"Come on, or we'll be late and you'll get another detention." Sephiroth grabbed Genesis' arm and pushed him forwards towards their class, the two of them soon joining the rest of the students as everyone headed for their next hour of boredom. Or in Genesis' case... chemistry?

"Man, there she is." Genesis suddenly reached back to grip Sephiroth's shoulder and pointed through the crowd of people to where a blonde girl was talking with her friends and heading towards the same classroom as them.

"Go get 'em cowboy!" Sephiroth laughed.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?" Genesis sighed.

"Whatever. Just hurry up and go talk to her," Sephiroth urged, giving him a small shove in the back.

"No way!" Genesis said, immediately taking a few steps back in defence.

"Oh my gosh, you better be glad I promised not to tell anyone about your little crush. Do you have any idea how funny it would be to the rest of the school that you turn to jelly whenever you see her?" Sephiroth teased.

"Oh, leave me alone!" Genesis rolled his eyes and the two friends continued to bicker until they were in the classroom and were silenced by the teacher. Genesis took his seat behind his blonde crush, Minerva, and instantly leant his head in the palm of his hand so he could simply sit and stare.

Throughout the entire lesson Genesis succeeded in having five minutes as the longest time he spent without looking at her. Sephiroth constantly threw paper objects at him to try and make him concentrate on the lesson, but Genesis ignored him without fail.

When the bell rang again and Genesis watched Minerva walk out with her books in her arms, he sighed and had to be thumped over the back of the head by Sephiroth before he was ready to put his own books away and leave the classroom.

A while later the lunch bell rang and Genesis groaned as he remembered his detention. He dumped his bag with Sephiroth and headed off to the classroom where detentions were always served. He walked in and froze, staring at the girl who was sitting angelically in one of the seats with a book open and her eyes slowly reading the words on the pages.

"Please take a seat," the teachers words cut through his mind and he managed to force his legs to move again. Summoning all his courage, he walked over and sat beside her. She glanced up, slightly startled, and then smiled once she saw who it was.

"Hey, what did you do?" she asked gently.

"Uh, I got framed," he said, shrugging and reaching a hand back to scratch his neck nervously.

"Really?" she asked, her delicate green eyes widening. "So did I!" She giggled and turned back to her book. Genesis swallowed, amazed that she had just _spoken_ to him! He innocently looked over to see what she was reading and his eyes widened as he quickly read the beautiful lines of poetry.

Minerva sighed in annoyance and pulled out a pen, scribbling out some words and writing down some replacements.

"Did you write that?" Genesis asked quietly. Minerva's head shot up and she pulled the book away quickly.

"You read it? Um, that's embarrassing..." She went red and looked down at the desk.

"No, it's beautiful," Genesis said.

"Really?" Minerva asked hesitantly. "You think so?"

"Yes. I never knew it was possible to capture so much emotion in a few lines of everyday words." Genesis smiled gently, his heart beating fast.

"Wow, thank you!" Minerva replied, relaxing her tight hold on her book.

"You're wel-"

"Silence! This is detention, no talking!" the teacher snapped angrily. Minerva giggled and ducked her head, turning back to her book. Genesis grinned and allowed himself to relax. She didn't think he was crazy yet. It was a good start.

* * *

 

"Can you see?" Someone asked from below. Yuffie squeaked, unable to answer just yet. Her fingers gripped the window sill and her feet scrabbled at something to push up from.

"Ohmygoshhe'ssittingnexttoher!" the sentence came out rushed and as soon as Yuffie had finished saying it she fell and landed with a thump onto the ground.

"Serious?" her friend asked, eyes wide in excitement.

"Yeah! And they were both smiling." Yuffie stood up and rubbed her backside. "Don't ever ask me to do that again. Honestly, why does the school have such high windows? And you could've given me a leg up!" Her friend only laughed innocently.

"Do you think it worked?" she asked to change the subject again.

"Oh yeah! Of course it did," Yuffie said, nodding enthusiastically.

"That's good to know! Mission accomplished." The two friends hi-fived for a second time and then hurried off.

* * *

 

When Genesis and Minerva were finally allowed out of detention along with all the other students that had been in there, there was an awkward silence between them because they had both turned to speak to the other at the same time and then stopped. Minerva was first to break the silence by giggling.

"Sorry, I was just going to ask you about what you were framed for," she admitted quietly, her voice gentle and soothing to his ears. A smile broke out on his face and he nodded, allowing his hair to slip in front of his right eye for a moment.

"The teachers think I graffiti'd the back wall," he told her. Minerva stared, shock in her eyes. "I didn't do it!" he quickly added.

"No, I know that!" Minerva said, shaking her head to show that she believed him. "I saw who did it!" Genesis took a moment to react, and when he did he let out a chuckle.

"Yes, Yuffie left her name on the bottom of one of the spray cans," he said to her. Minerva laughed and Genesis noticed the way her eyes sparkled when she did. She was beautiful, and they were talking like friends!

"Yuffie also got me in trouble," Minerva informed him, amusement plainly shown in her voice. "She kept whispering to me in class and every time the teacher looked over I was telling her to be quiet. So the teacher thought I was the one who wouldn't stop talking." Genesis frowned, angry that Yuffie had deliberately gotten Minerva in trouble.

"We should tell on her," Genesis said. Minerva raised an eyebrow.

"Why should we ruin her fun?" she questioned.

"What do you mean?" Genesis was puzzled, not understanding the logic behind what she had said.

"I think she did it deliberately so that we'd end up in detention together, shouldn't we thank her that we got to talk?" Minerva explained. Genesis' eyes widened and he felt a blush creeping into his cheeks.

"You think so?" he asked.

"Yes." Minerva nodded her head firmly. "So, Genesis, would you like to meet up again tomorrow?" There was a mischievous glint in her eyes, but he paid no attention to it.

"I'd love to." He smiled. "Where and when?"

"Detention at lunch tomorrow. I suggest you don't clean the graffiti." Minerva allowed her smile to turn into a smirk and turned around, walking away. Genesis sighed, his smile staying on his lips as he also turned and walked away to find his friends. Perhaps one day, he'd tell Yuffie how much he owed her for what she had done.

* * *

 

"Did you hear her? She said she was thankful!" Yuffie beamed. "This is totally the best thing I've ever done. Hey, do you wanna start a matchmaking company? We could get people to pay us to get them together with who they like! It would be so totally awesome and cool! What do you think?" Yuffie's friend jumped up and down on the spot.

"Can you get me together with Jason first, please?" she begged. Yuffie laughed and nodded, the two of them walking off quickly and talking in hushed voices as they organised how they would complete their next task.

 


	30. 52. Deep In Thought

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Genesis thinks Sephiroth's office is empty and wonders why he isn't in there working. A little investigating soon answers that question. Sephiroth has a new pastime...

Genesis did a double take as he walked past the door to Sephiroth's office. It wasn't often that the room was seen unoccupied and bathed in darkness and this alone had perked the red-heads interest. He looked around somewhat shiftily before putting a hand on the doorknob and pushing the door inwards.

Sephiroth was almost always seen slaving away at his desk trying to get all of his paperwork finished. The darkness that hung over his office as Genesis now walked towards the dark shape indicating his desk was unnerving, yet he pressed on.

A small light caught Genesis' attention and he peered over the desk to see a single candle sitting on the floor casting its light onto the carpet underneath it. The flame was incredibly long and flickered as if it's height was causing it to be unbalanced.

"I sense a dark force."

Genesis jumped visibly and immediately set about searching for the source of the voice which had spoken. He walked around the desk closer to the candle and that was when he noticed the figure lying down beside it. He blinked a couple times in disbelief and then frowned.

"Sephiroth?"

"Ah, it is you."

The General was indeed lying on the ground. The candle sat a foot away from his head and he reached one hand into the air, twisting it around as he examined it.

"Don't you have work to do?" Now, Genesis wouldn't usually bring up the subject of how much work Sephiroth had to do when around him, but in this case Genesis figured that whatever Sephiroth did to him for discussing it would be better than seeing him looking so completely peaceful on the floor of his office and so _un_ like his usual self. It was disturbing.

"Genesis, you poor mortal..." Sephiroth turned his head to look up at his friend and dropped his hand back down to his side. "I _am_ working." With a sigh, the silver-haired SOLDIER pushed himself to his feet and straightened his uniform slightly.

"Seph?" Genesis asked slowly and cautiously. "How exactly is that... working?"

"Cleansing of the mind. It's useful for situations when you are fighting in darkness and need to sense where your enemies are." Sephiroth explained. "I understand even if you don't."

"What exactly do you mean by that?" Genesis asked sharply.

"You are not as skilled as I am, Genesis," Sephiroth murmured. "I do not wish to rub it in, but you do not think as much as you should during battle."

Genesis narrowed his eyes angrily and folded his arms, greatly unimpressed by what his friend had said.

"Oh really?" he asked.

"Yes." Sephiroth nodded slowly and closed his eyes.

"So you think you can do this cleansing of the mind thing better than me?" Genesis asked angrily. Sephiroth sighed and his shoulders drooped slightly, but he nodded again. "Well then we'll see won't we?"

"What do you mean?" Sephiroth opened his eyes and looked over at his friend. Genesis took a deep breath and then began lying down, carefully avoiding the candle.

"Come on. I'll show you I'm better at it than you are," he snapped.

Sephiroth hid a smirk as he lay back down on the ground. He sighed happily and put his hands behind his head, wondering how long Genesis would stay still and quiet before he believed he had proved his point.

Oh how he loved to mess with the red-heads mind.

 


	31. 53. Keeping A Secret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cissnei gets a text message from Genesis to meet up, but she's busy on the day. Will she be able to free up her schedule for him?

Cissnei arrived at work and went straight to her desk. Her mind was on her job as she pulled out some folders and sifted through the pieces of paper looking for what needed to be done. She tucked some of her hair behind her ear and pulled out a pen, diving straight in and concentrating hard so that other people would find it difficult interrupting her.

Just as she finished one page and was onto the next, her PHS vibrated slightly to indicate the receiving of a message. She put her pen down gently and pulled out her PHS, flipping the top open and reading who the message was from.

Her heart sped up and a light blush came across her cheeks.

The message was from Genesis Rhapsodos, someone who she had recently spoken with for the first time and admitted her secret crush. Strangely enough, he had admitted the same thing to her. So seeing his name there sent butterflies cart-wheeling in her stomach and memories of their conversation came rushing to her mind.

She skimmed the message quickly, then went back and re-read it slowly to take every word in. _Hey Ciss, I get back two days from now. Will that be okay for our trip to the coffee shop?_

Cissnei hurriedly pulled out her timetable to figure out when she was scheduled to work and see whether two days from now was free. Her eyes fell upon the paper and her heart sank – she had to work that day. All day.

"No way..." Cissnei muttered, groaning and slouching in her seat, resting her head in her hand.

"Heey Cissnei!" Cissnei jumped and looked over to see Reno running over, a grin on his face. He came right up to her desk and leant on it, staring at her. "You sure I can't tell-"

"No, Reno!" Cissnei snapped. He pouted and blinked his eyes at her, but she just turned her head away.

"C'mon, yo! It's not _that_ embarrassing!" he persisted.

"Then why do act like it is?" Cissnei asked. Reno frowned, thinking it over.

" _Well_ , because it kind of _is_ if you think about it, yo..." he mumbled. Cissnei sighed, shaking her head.

"I'm trying to get my work done," she said.

"And I wanna know if I can tell someone! Anyone? Rude! Can I tell Rude, yo? He won't care that you're going out with Genesis!" Reno gushed.

"Be quiet!" Cissnei ordered frantically. "And I'm not going out with him!"

"You're not? Oh boy, what a loser, yo," Reno shook his head sadly. "To tell someone you like them and then not go out..."

"You interrupted us!" Cissnei reminded him.

"Yeah, but..." Reno paused, thinking of what to say and then just shrugging when nothing came to mind.

"Please Reno, just don't tell anyone and leave me alone. That's not too hard, is it?" Cissnei pleaded with him. Reno looked down at her soft face and rolled his eyes, grinning.

"Who can resist _that_ yo?" He chuckled. "Well, see ya later." He tapped her desk once and then walked off, leaving Cissnei to do her work and wallow in self-pity that she was working on the day Genesis was coming back and wouldn't be able to go to the coffee shop with him.

"Wait, Reno!" He spun around and came back, a sly smirk on his face.

"Yes, Cissnei?" he asked.

"Two days from now... are you working?" she asked slowly. Reno frowned and then did some quick thinking in his head.

"Nope!" he said happily. Cissnei willed her heart to slow down.

"Um, would you be able to... maybe, take over for me that day?" Cissnei asked carefully. No doubt he'd laugh and walk off, saying no.

"What?" Reno asked.

"I have something I'd like to do that day instead..." Cissnei shrugged.

"Like a date, yo?" Reno probed. "With Genesis?"

"It's not a date, exactly-"

"Sure, yo! I'll take your work for that day so you can spend it with him," Reno butted in.

"Are you serious?" Cissnei asked.

"Of course!" Reno nodded. "I'm a _very_ nice person, yo." Cissnei stood up and hugged him, beaming.

"Thanks so much!" she said.

"But," Reno said, raising a hand and holding his pointer in the air. Cissnei stepped back and her eyes widened in fear. What could he want now? "I want to be able to tell at least one person and you have to do all my work for today."

"No way, Reno!" Cissnei shook her head firmly.

"Then I guess you'll have to say no to your lover boy, yo," Reno said, shrugging and walking away again. Cissnei sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Fine, Reno. You can tell Rude," she said.

"Great! I'll go grab all my work for you to do!" Reno said, running off happily.

Cissnei turned and sat back down at her desk, resting her head in the palm of one hand. Was it worth doing Reno's work just so she'd be able to see Genesis the day he got back? Smiling slightly, she pulled out her PHS and replied to his message.

_That's fine. I'll be waiting for you._

 


	32. 54. Tower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Knight in shining armor has to rescue the damsel in distress. "Cloud! Cloud watch my washing!"  
> Cloud/Tifa

The Knight swung his sword, connecting it with the monster's head and letting out a cry of war. The damsel in distress stared in horror, fearing for his life. Would he slay the beast and reach her or would the beast slay him?

"Cloud! Cloud watch my washing!"

Cloud dropped his stick to the ground and turned to glare angrily at his mother. She had her hands on her hips and her mouth was in a firm line.

"Mum! It's an important moment! If I don't rescue her she's gonna die!" Cloud whined. His mother looked over to where Tifa was standing on top of some boxes, waiting.

"Just be careful, alright?" his mother reminded him sternly.

"I'm not stupid," Cloud muttered under his breath. Then he raised his wooden stick, uh, metal sword, and let out another war cry, slamming it down on top of the slimy beast and killing it.

"Hooray! You killed it!" the damsel said, waving a tissue in the air. The Knight made his way over to her, climbing up the tower and then helping her down to the ground.

"I saved you, princess!" he announced proudly.

"I need the kiss of my true love!" she exclaimed happily, slinging her arms around his neck.

"Okay kids, lunch time!" Cloud's mother called, walking inside the house. Tifa pouted but let go of Cloud and the two of them followed after the woman.

"Why does she always call lunch when we're about to kiss?" Tifa whined.

 


	33. 59. No Way Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cloud just wanted to do his hair without being teased. Where would be the best place? The cubicle in the bathroom. Where is he at the end of the day? ...the very same bathroom. Why? Read to find out!

It was the beginning of the day when Cloud entered the bathroom and went inside one of the cubicles in order to do his hair without anyone seeing and then teasing him. He spent about ten minutes on it before deciding it was perfect and getting ready to leave the cubicle again.

His hand was on the lock when he heard Zack's voice and froze, listening intently and in fear.

"Spiky, where are you? Genesis told me to do someone else's hair so I wanna do yours! He wouldn't let me put these pink bows that I bought in his hair so can I put it in yours? Spike? Are you in here?"

Cloud held his breath and stayed as quiet as he could, listening to the footsteps that wandered aimlessly around the room waiting for an answer before heading to the door again. The door to the bathroom opened again and Cloud was about to let out a sigh of relief when he heard another voice and released someone had come _in_ and Zack had not gone _out_.

"Zack, what are you doing?" Angeal asked.

"I wanna put these pretty pink bows in Cloud's hair! I have to practice so that... you know... if I ever got a girlfriend..." Zack trailed off and began whistling innocently.

"So you want to be able to put the bows in Aerith's hair?" Angeal asked, folding his arms although Cloud couldn't see.

"Yeah!" Zack beamed, before his eyes widened at the fact that Angeal knew who his girlfriend was. "Hey!"

"Zack, you can't honestly still believe no one knows about her," Angeal sighed, and Cloud heard him walk over to the sink. There was silence for a moment and then Zack burst out laughing.

"You spilled your food on yourself again?" Zack managed to say while gulping for air.

"No. Genesis thought it would be funny if he made my bowl of cereal flip over and into my lap. Well he very soon found out it _wasn't_ funny," Angeal growled.

"You sure?" Zack asked, chuckling.

"Yes," Angeal snapped, and Cloud heard the sharp footsteps walking towards the door, heard the door open and close, and then heard Zack sigh loudly.

"Well, I'm off to find Cloud again!" Zack sang, skipping out the door merrily.

Cloud waited. He waited to make sure Zack was _far_ away from the bathroom before slowly turning the lock on the cubicle door and stepping out. He paused, took a deep breath, waited some more, and then moved towards the door.

"Hey! Have you seen Cloud? Tifa Lockhart's on the phone for him!" a voice called from outside. Cloud's eyes widened and he let out a small squeak before hurriedly rushing back to the cubicle and locking himself in again.

"What? No he's..." As the people talking got further away Cloud could no longer make out what they were saying. He couldn't believe this was happening. He was stuck in a bathroom cubicle!

Leaning against the door, he waited for half an hour just to make sure there was no one looking for him standing somewhere nearby outside. He inched his way out of the cubicle and glanced around nervously. Summoning some courage, he walked straight over to the door and yanked it open.

Zack was at the end of the hall walking his way. In an instant Cloud had disappeared back into the bathroom and into the same cubicle he had been in before, locking it. _Did he see me?_

"Hey, Seph!" Zack yelled loudly. "If you see Cloud can you let him know I'm looking for him?"

The door to the bathroom opened halfway and then stopped as the person standing there turned back for a moment.

"Sure. What do you need him for?" Sephiroth asked from the doorway. Cloud could now hear their conversation much better.

"I wanna tie pink bows in his hair!" Zack exclaimed excitedly. There was no response from Sephiroth, unless you counted the closing of the bathroom door a response.

Cloud inwardly groaned and leaned against the cubicle door again, waiting for Sephiroth to leave. _I've been in here all morning... I'm so bored._

When Cloud was just getting excited about Sephiroth heading for the door, someone else walked in.

"Hey, Seph," Genesis greeted his friend.

"Hey," Sephiroth said, walking out the door. Genesis' footsteps went over to the sink and stopped. Cloud closed his eyes and then opened them again, forcing himself to unlock the cubicle door and step out. Genesis was fixing his hair.

"Hey, Zack's looking for you. I think he's about ready to put posters up," Genesis mumbled after having seen who it was.

"Oh, really?" Cloud asked, trying to pretend he had no idea.

"Yeah..." Genesis replied quietly, sidetracked as he fiddled with a bit of hair that was sticking up. Cloud nodded slowly and began walking to the door.

"Really!? You saw him in the bathroom!? Thanks!"

Instantly Cloud locked himself back in his cubicle. Genesis chuckled.

"Spiky!" The bathroom door burst open and Zack leapt in. "Spiky, you in here?" he asked eagerly. "Gen, you seen Spiky?"

"If you're referring to Cloud..." Genesis said, raising an eyebrow at Zack.

"Ya-huh! Seph said he saw him in here," Zack exclaimed.

"How intr _ig_ uing," Genesis replied and then asked, "Well, do you see him?" Zack frowned and looked another scan of the room.

"Nope." He shook his head. "Spiky? You in a cubicle?"

"I doubt he's going to respond if you continue calling him Spiky." Genesis sighed. Zack pouted and rolled his eyes.

"I always call him Spiky!" he complained.

"It was just a thought." Genesis shrugged. "And as to your question, the last I saw of Cloud was when he was heading for the door."

"So he's outside now!" Zack exclaimed. "Thanks, Gen!"

Zack was out of the bathroom in a flash and Cloud slowly emerged from his cubicle again. He looked over at Genesis, who was still having an argument with that one bit of hair.

"Thank you," Cloud said.

"How long have you been in here?" Genesis questioned.

"I'm not sure, sir," Cloud answered truthfully. Genesis grunted a reply and finally made his bit of hair stay down, eyes lighting up in victory.

"Have fun avoiding the 'puppy'." Genesis gave a wave of his hand and headed for the door. Cloud nodded and waited for the redhead to leave before walking over to the mirror just to check his own hair was still alright after all this waiting.

It was.

Once more heading to the door, Cloud crossed his fingers and hoped desperately that he would make it out this time.

"Wutai troops! I repeat! There are Wutai soldiers in the building!"

Cloud's eyes widened and he backed away from the door in horror. Wutair troops? In the _building_? How could that have happened?

_OhmygoshI'mgonnadie._

Cloud retreated to his cubicle again, trembling slightly and imagining the footsteps of a Wutai soldier coming up to the bathroom door before barging in, finding him, and killing him.

"Zack you're such an idiot!" Someone was yelling, but there was an obvious chuckle in their voice.

"Oh, come on Kunsel! It was funny!" Zack laughed.

"Is this another one of your schemes to find Cloud?" Kunsel asked.

"Ya-huh! I was figuring if he was anywhere around here and heard this, he'd come screaming in fear and I'd see him! Perfect plan, yeah?" Zack explained excitedly.

"Uh, yeah sure." Kunsel chuckled.

Cloud could not believe it. He had been tricked. How had he not recognised Zack's voice? It was definitely the kind of prank he would pull.

"You coming for lunch?" Kunsel asked.

"Yeah, I guess. I can always look for Cloud after," Zack said. The two friends walked off again and Cloud unlocked the cubicle door for the umpteenth time.

"He's at lunch... I'm safe..." Cloud whispered to himself, slowly walking to the door. The thought of having Zack find him and stick pink bows in his hair was horrifying. He could hear more people walking about outside the door and hoped one of them wasn't Zack.

"Yeah, I'm here to fix the sign on the door," someone said from just outside. Cloud froze. "Alright, nobody can use this bathroom for about three hours! I'm pulling the sign off, painting over the door, painting a new sign and sticking it up." The man sounded more like he was talking to himself rather than anyone else.

Cloud's heart sunk to his shoes and he almost cried. Would he be able to quickly bang on the door and get let out before the man started working? He'd give it a try.

He rushed over to the door and began banging, but at the exact same time loud rock music that made the ground tremble started up. The man fixing the sign obviously wanted to listen to it while he worked.

Cloud's jaw dropped open and his hand froze in mid-bang. Not fair! _Not fair!_

He hurriedly spun around and searched the room for a window. None. He searched for an air vent that he might be able to crawl through. None. He searched for a drain pipe that would be big enough for him to slip into and escape. None.

"What did I ever do to deserve this!?" Cloud yelled angrily, plopping himself down on the floor and leaning against the wall to wallow in self-pity.

Three hours later Cloud was sick of listening to loud rock music and wondering why the man hadn't left yet.

Four hours later Cloud was asleep against the wall dreaming about loud rock music.

Five hours later Zack walked into the bathroom and had to stop himself from letting out a yell of happiness at finding Cloud. Instead of waking his friend up, he bent down and began tying the pink bows around the blonde spikes that stuck up at strange angles.

"Yay! I tie so well!" Zack whispered to himself happily. "I'll leave them on so Cloud can see how well I did it when he wakes up."

Six hours later Cloud was found by Sephiroth screaming in the bathroom and attacking his hair.

 


	34. 60. Rejection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Genesis finally goes to find Cissnei and ask her out. She says she's... busy. Seph and Angeal try to cheer him up with apple pie. Genesis/Cissnei

Genesis had been pacing from one end of the kitchen to the other for the past hour and it was finally beginning to grate on Sephiroth and Angeal's nerves. Unfortunately they couldn't kick Genesis out since they all shared the apartment, so Sephiroth finally decided to do something else about the situation.

"Genesis," the General said, walking over to where Genesis had just reached a bench and was spinning around to walk back again. The wide eyes on the red-head showed just how stressed he was feeling and Sephiroth sighed. "Sit down."

"I can't."

It was as if nothing had happened, as Genesis continued to pace around Sephiroth and wrung his hands just as he had been doing for ages. Sephiroth felt like hitting his friend to get his attention, but restrained.

"If you don't ask her nothing will change, Genesis," Angeal called from outside the kitchen, not brave enough to actually enter just yet. Sephiroth folded his arms and watched as Genesis simply shuddered and squeezed his eyes shut just from thinking about it.

"If I was in your position I'd go right up to her." Sephiroth shrugged.

"Yeah, but you're-"

"Obviously a lot braver than you. Can't talk to a girl, can you?" Sephiroth mocked. Genesis stopped pacing and turned quickly to face his friend, a glare on his face.

"How dare you! Of course I can talk to girls. I just- not today," Genesis stammered, his face going red in embarrassment. He swallowed stiffly and dropped his gaze to the ground, trembling.

"I'll come with you," Sephiroth said quietly. "And I'll stand in the same room when you speak to her if you want me to."

Genesis twitched and turned his face away slightly, his heart beating fast from nerves and his head telling him it was a stupid idea. Angeal's head appeared in the doorway, his expression also supportive, and Genesis finally gave in.

"Fine."

Before he had time to change his mind, Sephiroth had grabbed his arm and started leading him out of the kitchen and out of their entire apartment, leaving Angeal behind to finally start some paperwork he needed to do. Entering the main corridor of ShinRa they began walking towards the elevator and Sephiroth mentally congratulated Genesis on his ability to control his nerves now that they were about to find her.

Inside the elevator, Genesis still seemed calm. But Sephiroth knew him better than that and could tell just from looking into his friends eyes that the man was shaking in his boots.

The sooner this was over, the better.

The elevator dinged and they stepped out onto the Turk floor, proceeding to walk through the halls in search of one particular person. They waved Reno off when he came bouncing towards them, and finally found what they were looking for when they turned a corner.

Cissnei had just stepped out from her office and was holding a stack of papers in her arms, a weary, tired expression on her face as she shut the door behind her. Looking up and seeing the two SOLDIERs standing awkwardly, she bit her lip to hold in a groan.

Genesis stepped forward and Sephiroth stepped back.

"C-Cissnei? May I speak to you for a minute?" Genesis asked in an incredibly calm voice.

"Uh- I'm really sorry I... I have to..." Cissnei looked down at the papers in her arms before looking back up at him again, sorrow in her eyes.

"I'll be quick," he whispered.

"Maybe... tomorrow? I'm really busy." Cissnei sighed.

"Willyougooutwithme?" Genesis suddenly burst out, anxiety on his face as he waited for an answer. He couldn't believe he had blurted it so rudely, but he couldn't let her go when it had taken him so long just to get the courage to come find her!

"I-I-" Cissnei stared at him, her mouth open in horror. "I'm really busy! Sorry, Genesis, I'll talk to you later!"

With that, she bit her lip and rushed past him and Sephiroth, disappearing through another door and leaving the two SOLDIERs in silence.

Genesis swallowed, turned, and headed back the way they had come. Sephiroth trailed behind him, not speaking. What could he say? It was obvious the Turk had wanted to say no but didn't want to hurt his feelings.

The ride in the elevator was also silent as Sephiroth contemplated the right words to say and came up with nothing. Just one glance at the red-head showed he was being torn apart inside.

When they reached the apartment and walked in, Angeal opened and shut his mouth rather quickly. Genesis' sadness radiating from him and the other SOLDIER knew staying silent was a better choice for now.

Sephiroth gently closed the door behind them and then leant against it.

"Genesis, could you help me make an apple pie?" he asked gently.

"Not in the mood," Genesis said, intending to go straight to his room where he could wallow in self-pity.

"Help me," Sephiroth ordered firmly, grabbing his friends arm and dragging him to the kitchen before pulling out some apples and a peeler, shoving them at the red-head and glaring before Genesis finally sighed and began peeling them.

Angeal slowly walked in and stood there awkwardly, wondering what to say.

"I've been wanting some apple pie for a while, now," Sephiroth said to try and clear the awkward silence.

"Good for you," Genesis said quietly, his voice cracking slightly as he lowered his head to let his hair cover his face. His actions were sharp as he peeled the apples and Sephiroth frowned sadly, wishing he could help his friend feel better.

"Don't worry, Gen," Angeal said softly. "You'll find someone else one day who-"

"I don't _want_ anyone else!" Genesis dropped the peeler and gripped the bench tightly, shaking. "There is no one out there like her! No one better. Just her."

"I wish she could hear you say that. She'd probably kill to be with you then," Sephiroth said before moving over and grabbing his friend into a hug. "If she can't see that you'd be good for her, then she's blind."

Genesis took a deep breath to try and keep himself composed, hugging Sephiroth back. He was glad he had such good friends to be there when he really needed someone, but why couldn't she have said yes instead of making an excuse and running off?

"I'll peel the apples if you want," Angeal said, moving to take over Genesis' job.

"I'll..." Genesis pulled back from Sephiroth but couldn't escape his silver-haired friend's intense gaze which was checking to see if he was alright. "I'll preheat the oven."

The three of them then set about different tasks, talking lightly on a few subjects until Sephiroth and Angeal finally managed to make Genesis laugh. The conversation then got fuller and they joked around, even going so far as to throw apple peels at each other since they hadn't been thrown in the bin yet.

When a knock came at the door, the three friends were caught off guard. Genesis was grinning as he pulled some apple skin from his hair and walked out of the kitchen to open the door and see who was there.

His grin disappeared instantly.

"C-C-C-Cissnei." he stuttered in shock.

"I'm _so_ sorry!" she exclaimed, her eyes staring down at her hands which were fidgeting nervously. "I didn't mean to... I was just... Tseng said I only had twenty minutes to finish something which I thought I was going to have another week on, so then I had to work hard to finish that. And then Reno came and spilled coffee all over my work and I had to start again! Tseng was so angry when he came to check on me and I just... I felt so bad and seeing you made me want to cry! I'm sorry, Genesis. If it's not too late I- I'd love to!"

Genesis gaped.

"You want to..."

Cissnei looked up then and in an instant she had leant up on tiptoes and planted a soft kiss on his lips as an answer.

"I'd love to go out with you, Genesis."

"You would?" he asked, confused.

"Yes! Of course!" She smiled hopefully.

The confusion left Genesis' face and he sighed in relief, smiling before looping an arm around her waist, leaning down and kissing her longer.

Sephiroth and Angeal pulled their heads back from spying on them and smiled to themselves, quietly continuing to prepare the apple pie.

 


	35. 61. Fairy Tale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sephiroth doesn't tap. Some members of the Silver Elite are more innocent than others... but they all seem to love camera's.

Sephiroth finished up with the days paperwork and stood from his chair, stretching his limbs. He had been sitting down for a while now and moving felt good. He reached down and picked up the papers he had done, placing them over on a shelf so he knew they were complete.

"Seph?" Genesis poked his head through the door into the General's office and raised an eyebrow. "Were you tapping before?"

Sephiroth stared at Genesis, wondering what on Gaia he was talking about.

"I don't tap," he stated firmly.

"I know, Seph. But I honestly heard a tapping noise coming from here. Are you sure it wasn't you?" Genesis pressed on, convinced he was correct.

"I do not tap. I didn't hear anything. Go see a doctor." Sephiroth snapped the instruction so firmly it could have passed as an order. Genesis frowned slightly, but nodded and left.

Sephiroth sighed in annoyance and rubbed his temples. He walked over to the window at the back of his office and stood there just staring out for a while. Maybe he _had_ been sub-consciously tapping while doing his work.

Although, he'd never tapped _before_.

"Ah-choo!"

Sephiroth spun around, staring at the cabinet that was placed close to the door. He usually used it for storing such things as reports and official documents given to him, none of which he'd gotten recently. The cabinet was also rather large, and as Sephiroth thought about it he was certain it would fit even someone of Zack's size – if they curled up tight.

So as Sephiroth slowly crossed over towards it, he silently picked up his sword from where he had left it leaning against the wall, and then flung the cabinet door open.

Looking up at him with large, bright blue eyes was a girl of about fifteen. She stared at him; he stared at her. Then, in an instant so fast Sephiroth barely saw it happen, she had whipped out a camera and started taking pictures.

In another instant, just as fast if not faster than the first, Sephiroth had dragged the girl from the cabinet and taken the camera out of her hands.

"Who are you?" Sephiroth asked angrily. The girl's eyes turned fearful and she trembled slightly.

"I'm... I'm from... the Silver Elite," she stuttered.

With a groan, Sephiroth let go of her and turned away. He put his sword down and took big, deep breaths, letting them out slowly to try and calm himself down. Then he turned back to her.

"So you're one of my fans?" he asked, just to make sure.

"Y... yes." She nodded.

"I see. Then you think highly of me?" Nod. "You think I'm wonderful?" Nod. "That I'm the best SOLDIER ever?" Nod. "Do you think I deserve my own privacy?" A nod, and then a pause as the question sunk in.

"I... I'm sorry! I am! Really! It's just that... I love you! We all do! And I just wanted to see you up close1 And I wanted a photo so I could remember the moment!" The girl gushed out her words, stopping to catch her breath and save herself from further embarrassment. Sephiroth's left eyebrow had risen and he stared at her in... interest?

"Would you like some photo's to show your friends and make them jealous?" Sephiroth asked slowly. The girl stared at him, then quickly nodded. Sephiroth smirked and reached a hand out to draw her close, handing her the camera.

With shaking hands, the girl tried to take photo's of the two of them. After about ten that looked horrible, Sephiroth took the camera off her and took the photo's himself.

"Don't faint," Sephiroth said, and while holding the camera out to get both of them in the picture he leaned in to kiss her on the cheek.

With his advanced hearing, Sephiroth heard every beat of her heart and chuckled lightly as it sped up to an unbelievable pace.

"You're so... amazing!" she managed to say.

"Well then," Sephiroth handed her camera back again. "Does that satisfy you?" She slowly nodded, still looking very dazed.

"Is that a hint to leave?" she asked softly.

Sephiroth stared at her, thinking it over to himself, and then shook his head.

"How would you like a tour of the SOLDIER floor?"

The girl's wide and astonished grin was answer enough.

 


	36. 62. Magic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Follows on from '1. Introduction' and '41. Teamwork'.
> 
> Reno learns how to pilot a helicopter. Or, he just does it. Who knows how.

Reno followed behind Rude, glaring daggers at the other Turks who had the nerve to glare at him first. Just because he'd helped out someone in Avalanche they all thought they were better than him, so Reno believed he had the right to glare at them back.

Rude glanced over his shoulder to make sure Reno was still following and then resumed watching in front of himself as he walked. He was sure that all the Turks who saw the two of them would consider him careless in letting the boy walk behind him, but he didn't think Reno was going to try anything.

"Seeing as you took to the Electro-Mag Rod incredibly quickly, I'm going to try you with something much more difficult," Rude explained, moving his head so that his words floated over his shoulder towards Reno.

"Joy," Reno said sarcastically.

Rude ignored the remark and led the boy through another door, having to swipe a card a few times to get in. He went over to a desk and mumbled something to the person sitting there. The person reached into a drawer and then held out a few keys which Rude took.

"What's going on, yo?" Reno asked with a slightly puzzled expression.

"This way," Rude said. He set off through another corridor and soon brought Reno out into a large room holding three helicopters.

"Whoa." Reno stared around at the vehicles with wide eyes. "Are we going somewhere, yo?"

"Yes. And you're driving," Rude threw the keys to Reno and in a flash he'd brought his hand up, catching them.

"No way."

"Just get in," Rude said.

Blinking a few times in shock, Reno slowly made his way over to the closest helicopter, glancing to Rude for confirmation that it was the right one. Opening up the door, he climbed in and found himself sitting at a desk full of electronic equipment. Rude climbed in on the other side and began flicking switches.

"The key goes in there," Rude said, pointing to a slot. Reno nodded and inserted it, turning it once and listening with wide, excited eyes as the engine purred to life.

"This is amazing," Reno said. He glanced around at all the controls, finally settling to rest one hand on the joystick. It seemed to melt perfectly into the shape of his hand and he closed his eyes momentarily in the sheer bliss of it.

Rude was pulling out a walkie-talkie and said something into it. The roof instantly began rolling back on itself and Reno stared up out the side window at it.

"You honestly want me to fly this thing, yo?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Sweet." Reno grinned and examined the switches, choosing a few and flicking them. He pressed a button and did a few more things before finally reaching to press the button labelled 'propellers'.

"I'd feel much better if you used your seat belt," Rude said stiffly.

"There's a seat belt!?" Reno asked, shocked. He looked at it in disgust, but pulled it across and clicked it in place anyway. "It's a good thing I'm a Turk now, yo. I am going to get rid of these seat belts."

Rude shook his head slightly and was about to remind Reno to concentrate when the red-head fiddled with the switches a bit more and had the helicopter lift off the ground. What wasn't he good at?

"This is like child's play, yo!" Reno exclaimed as he manoeuvred the helicopter through the gap in the roof. "It's awesome!"

Rude raised an eyebrow, refusing to say anything in case he was a distraction and caused an accident. Besides, Reno seemed to be finding distractions fine by himself.

"Whoa, is the big red button like in movies? Do we blow up if I press it, yo?" Reno asked excitedly.

"No," Rude said.

"What happens? Can I press it?"

"It is in case of emergencies. Pressing the red buttons activates the ejector seats," Rude explained. Reno's eyes sparkled mischievously.

"So can I press it?"

"No."

"You're no fun, yo!" Reno whined. "But hey, where are we going?"

"Do you see the building over there?" Rude pointed to a tall building jutting out from the rest and Reno nodded. "Fly around it and come back. That's all I want you to do."

"Cool. I can do that." Reno grinned and arced the helicopter slightly to line it up with the building a bit better, setting out on a straight course for the target.

"You have remarkable talents," Rude commented.

"Thanks. It's my red-head pride, yo." Reno shot his partner a grin and then focused his eyes ahead again.

He didn't tell Rude, but flying a helicopter had been a dream of his ever since he was able to walk. He felt like he belonged up in the air surrounded by all the switches and buttons. It felt perfect to him. Like _magic_.

 


	37. 63. Do Not Disturb

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sephiroth is suffering from lack of food. Zack is not helping.

_**Chocolate.** _

_The soft, creamy texture that melts on your tongue._

_The brown, swirling colour that teases your eyes._

_**Biscuit.** _

_The broken, crumbling texture that softens in your mouth._

_The cracked, caramel colour that captures your attention._

_**Tim-tam.** _

_The rectangular sweet with smooth, rounded sides._

_The-_

 

"Seph? Whatcha readin'?"

Sephiroth jumped and his finger clicked, minimising the window he'd had open on his laptop.

"Zack. You scared me," Sephiroth stated monotonously. Zack beamed and struck a pose.

"I, the infamous Zack Fair, have managed to scare the General!" he announced loudly. Sephiroth rolled his eyes.

"Please go away, I'm trying to get my work done," Sephiroth said. Zack raised an eyebrow and leant on the back of his chair.

"To me, my friend, it seems that you are hungry," he stated thoughtfully. Sephiroth sighed, realising Zack had seen it after all.

"I have to get my work done," he repeated.

"Maybe you'll concentrate better with food in your stomach! Like, oh, I dunno... a tim-tam?" Zack chuckled to himself.

"Oh, shut up Zack." Sephiroth lowered his head to his hands.

"Do you have a headache? Are you stressed? Grumpy? Chocolate has endorphins! Endorphins makes you happy!" Zack's voice had slowly increased in volume and he had thrown his hands up in exclamation. Sephiroth put his hands over his ears.

"Go away," he snapped.

"Not while you're grumpy!" Zack said in a sing-song voice. Sephiroth groaned and squeezed his eyes shut tight.

"Just leave me alone! Why can't you stick to annoying Angeal?" Sephiroth meant for it to come out as an insult, but it sounded more like he was begging.

"Aww, Seph, why don't you want to get some food? That way you'll be happy!" Zack paused, having a deja vu moment, and then shrugged and just grinned.

"Zack if you don't leave in five seconds I'm going to strip you of your rank!" Sephiroth flung his head up to stare angrily at Zack, watching the blue eyes dim as the words sunk in.

"I'm sorry, Seph. I just wanted to help..." Zack pouted, turning and dragging his feet as he walked to the door. Sephiroth raised an eyebrow and turned away again. The kicked puppy pretense didn't work on him.

Hearing his door slam shut, Sephiroth sighed in relief and clicked on the window he'd been looking at before.

 

_**Tim-tam.** _

_The rectangular sweet with smooth, rounded sides._

_The sticky texture that leaves you wanting more..._

 

Sephiroth thumped his head on his desk, thoroughly annoyed that he had not taken the opportunity to have a tim-tam when it was there.

Pushing the urge to smash something into the back of his mind, he pulled out his work and began going through it.

 


	38. 64. Multitasking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Genesis is being Genesis. As usual. Seph gets him to prove he can multitask. Genesis proves it.

Genesis Rhapsodos walked through the corridors of the ShinRa building, heading towards the cafeteria. LOVELESS in hand, his eyes were glazed over slightly as he read the words and thought over them in his mind.

As he was in such a focused state of mind, he was blocking everything else out of his mind yet allowing himself to remember the way to the cafeteria. Therefore, when a group of grunts walked past him talking excitedly he didn't notice. He didn't even notice when they said his name a few times in their conversation.

"Yeah, I heard him and his book are inseparable," one of the grunts said, nudging his friend and jerking his head towards where Genesis was walking.

"That's what I heard too," his friend agreed. The others in the group nodded in agreement and continued talking.

"He's even got his own fan club!" The group of grunts had stopped walking and stood in a clump just talking. Genesis Rhapsodos walked past them, his head and mind still buried in his book. At the last minute, however, one of the grunts stuck his foot out and Genesis tripped on it. The book flew out of his hand and landed on the floor as the 1st Class SOLDIER stumbled forward clumsily, pulled from his daze.

The grunt's snickers and chuckles were desperately hidden behind hands and they all tried their hardest to look innocent. But the problem was that they still found it absolutely hilarious.

"Which one of you did that?" Genesis asked the group. He bent down to pick up LOVELESS and then turned back to them with a scowl on his face. "If you don't own up I'll put you all on report."

"It.. it was me, Sir," the grunt responsible said, lifting his hand slightly.

"I see," Genesis said, staring down at him like he was worth absolutely nothing. "Please explain to me why you felt the need to do that." The grunt glanced at his friends, but they were all averting their eyes.

"Um, I just wanted to have a bit of fun." He shrugged helplessly.

"Just to have some fun, you risked damaging the book of LOVELESS beyond repair?" Genesis growled. One thought zipped through all the grunts' heads, 'He only cared about the book?'.

"I'm sorry, Sir." The grunt lowered his eyes to the ground.

"Yes, of course you are," Genesis said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to get something to eat." Genesis spun on his heel and walked off, going into the cafeteria which was close by. All the grunts breathed a sigh of relief.

"He didn't put us on report!" they said happily, quickly running off in case he was going to change his mind and come back.

Genesis walked over to a table where Sephiroth and Angeal were sitting. He sat down across from them and opened up his book, beginning to read again.

"Honestly, all you ever do in the cafeteria is read," Angeal muttered, glancing up at Genesis.

"That's not true," came the absent-minded reply.

"I bet it's because he can't eat and read at the same time," Sephiroth chuckled. Genesis glanced up, a glare on his face.

"I'm trying to read. Stop talking so loud," he said. Sephiroth held a hand up to keep Genesis' attention before he looked down again.

"Is it possible for you to eat and read at the same time?" he asked.

"Of course! But I'm reading right now." Genesis went to look down again but Sephiroth snatched the book away. Genesis' facial expression turned into that of a kicked puppy and he stared at where the poor book of LOVELESS was being held tightly by Sephiroth.

"Go get some food and prove to us that you can eat and read at the same time," Sephiroth ordered. Genesis slowly looked up at Sephiroth's face to check whether he was kidding or not, but soon realised after seeing the cold-hard expression that he wasn't. Pulling himself from his chair, he made his way over to get some food and brought it back, dumping it hard on the table.

"Fine, now give it back," he snapped angrily.

"Gosh, anyone would think Seph's older," Angeal muttered. Sephiroth slowly handed over LOVELESS and Genesis snatched it from him, shooting one last glare before he positioned it in one hand and began to eat his food with the other. Sephiroth and Angeal watched for a few seconds before they got bored of it.

"All right, what else can you do at the same time?" Sephiroth asked.

"When the war of the beasts-"

"Except from quoting the darn thing!" Sephiroth slammed his hands down on the table in exasperation. Genesis chuckled and continued reading and eating. After a few more seconds he put LOVELESS down on the table and propped it open so he could still see it. While he continued to shovel food into his mouth, he reached down and pulled his sword from its sheath. In one quick motion he brought it down towards Sephiroth and Angeal ducked to the side.

There was a loud clang and Genesis glanced up at Sephiroth quickly, who had brought out his own sword, with a smirk before looking back down at LOVELESS and continuing to eat with one hand. For the next few minutes, Sephiroth and Genesis fought in the cafeteria while Genesis continued to eat and read.

Finally, the fight ended as Genesis finished eating. The swords were sheathed and Sephiroth sat back down.

"Well, that proves it," Sephiroth said.

"Proves what?" Angeal asked curiously.

"Well, seeing as Genesis is incredibly good at multitasking and has a nickname of 'Genny' I hereby conclude that Genesis Rhapsodos is in fact a girl," Sephiroth said. LOVELESS was forgotten as Genesis leapt over the table, letting out a war cry and attempting to strangle his silver-haired friend.

"Oh boy, here we go again," Angeal muttered.

 


	39. 65. Horror

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A day in the life of Sephiroth - with a twist.

Genesis could see the room clearly due to his mako vision as he walked towards Sephiroth's bed. With a smirk on his face, he reached for some of his friends long, silver hair and set to work, not making a single noise as he did so.

* * *

Sephiroth was incredibly tired when he got up in the morning, ordering the first person he saw when he left his room to get him a coffee on the double. The infantryman dashed away to do as asked before Sephiroth could yell at them anymore.

Walking into the cafeteria to get himself some breakfast, Sephiroth ignored the looks from all the newest grunts that clearly thought highly of him.

"Excuse me, General?" Sephiroth turned to the side and listened as an executive explained one of his ideas for improving the SOLDIER department, asking whether it was good and worth passing on to Lazard.

"That's great. Write it down, though. Lazard doesn't like listening for long periods of time," Sephiroth said, gratefully taking the coffee suddenly offered to him by the infantryman he had asked before. He began sipping it and walked over to a table where Angeal was sitting beside his puppy.

"Seph, you actually have time to eat?" Angeal gasped in fake shock. "You've been so busy lately." His last words were more of an observation, and he eyed Sephiroth as the man pulled some paperwork from a pocket and began reading over it.

"Yeah, I've just really got to get this done. Lazard wants it by the end of the week." Sephiroth sipped his coffee and suddenly had a pen in his hand. He scribbled over something that was written on one of the pages and rewrote something else.

"You're going to run yourself down completely," Angeal said. "Every time you finish one task Lazard gives you, he gives you another."

"Really? That's insane!" Zack piped up from beside his mentor.

"Hmm." Sephiroth glanced over at the line of people waiting for food and stood up, pocketing his work again. "Coffee will do for now, I guess. I don't have time to wait another half hour."

As he walked away, Angeal and Zack stared at the back of his head with their eyes wide in disbelief. Had the stress of everything finally gotten to him?

* * *

Entering his office, Sephiroth set his coffee on his desk and walked over to his bed to sift the papers he had flung there when he'd gotten up. Finding what he wanted and heading back over to his desk, he flinched slightly as his PHS went off in his pocket.

Pulling it out, he scowled and downed the rest of his coffee before walking out again and heading up to the restricted floors where Hojo waited to run some more tests.

Walking into the scientists lab, he went and sat down on a chair, waiting as Hojo finished getting together lots of sharp looking objects.

"Good of you to come!" Hojo said happily. "I want to see how well your body is healing today. Just in case the ability given by mako has ceased to work for some reason or another." Hojo walked over and took hold of Sephiroth's arm, bringing a knife down and slicing part of it.

Sephiroth screwed up his face slightly, but did nothing more and simply waited as his skin knit itself back together in front of his eyes. This ability of self-healing only happened because of the mako and jenova cells inside of him.

Hojo grunted, satisfied, and then a strange glint appeared in his eyes.

"I wonder, to what extent does the injury have to be before your body cannot manage to heal it by itself?" Hojo thought aloud. Sephiroth inwardly groaned. He would probably be here for another five hours being injured in every way possible just so that Hojo could watch his body heal itself again.

"Stand up, I'd like to see if you can heal your shoulder blades from being snapped," Hojo instructed sharply, so Sephiroth stood and turned around, exposing his back.

He waited, but nothing happened.

Sighing, he turned around to look at Hojo and saw the horror-stricken look on his face. Frowning, he wondered momentarily whether Hojo had already snapped his shoulder blade and it had fixed itself in record time. But if that had happened, Hojo would be looking not horrified, but excited and thrilled.

"Sephiroth..." Hojo started softly. "Why did you braid a section of your hair?"

 


	40. 69. Annoyance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sephiroth hops onto his laptop and gets a... surprise to say the least. Genesis has been at it again. Poor Seph. Funded by the Silver Elite.

Sephiroth pulled his laptop out of his bag and put it on his desk, flipping the lid up. As he waited for it to boot up, he listened to the sounds of his two best friends talking in the other room.

"He's going to kill you!" Angeal whispered sharply.

"No he's not! Relax, would you?" Genesis replied, talking in a voice even quieter than a normal whisper.

Sephiroth wondered what they could possibly be talking about, but wasn't too interested. As the image on his laptop changed from being the computer logo, Sephiroth sat up straighter and sighed. Moving his fingers across his keyboard, he typed in his password and pressed enter.

"We're going to die. He's like a time bomb and you're gonna set him off!" Angeal continued. Genesis smirked.

"Tick, tick. Tick, tick. Ti-"

"What the HECK!?" Sephiroth's chair went flying backwards as he stood up, and Genesis burst out laughing. Angeal hurriedly fled to his room in order to escape Sephiroth's wrath.

"Genesis! What kind of sick joke is this?" Sephiroth roared, fuming yet unable to move away from his desk as he was frozen in horror.

"Don't you like it, Seph?" Genesis laughed. He slowly moved to stand in the doorway and looked over at his friends laptop where the wallpaper was the main feature on the screen.

The image that had been set as the wallpaper was a drawing of Sephiroth wearing a frilly pink dress and with a large pink bow in his hair. At the bottom of the image was written, 'Property of the Silver Elite'.

"If you ever change my background again I will kill you," Sephiroth growled, slowly turning to face his red-headed friend. "And since when do you associate with _my_ fan club?"

"Oh relax, it was just for a joke!" Genesis shook his head with a smile.

"I'm not laughing," Sephiroth said seriously.

"Lighten up!" Genesis chuckled. "Besides, this picture only came about because I _specifically_ asked one of the members to draw it for me."

"You asked for this!?" Sephiroth snapped, suddenly lunging at him. Genesis ran from the room, but wasn't quite fast enough and soon had an arm around his neck and a hand gripping his hair tightly.

"Hey! Let go! Relax!" Genesis choked out, half because his neck was being squeezed and half because he was laughing really hard.

"Take it back! Destroy the picture! Swear you'll never do it ever again!" Sephiroth ordered firmly, tightening his grip slightly.

"Okay, okay! I promise! I'll never do it again and I'll destroy the picture! I'm sorry Seph! Let go already!" Genesis was released and he stumbled forward before spinning around and tackling his silver-haired friend to the ground.

"Ah!" Was all Sephiroth managed before the air was knocked out of him.

"Take this!" Genesis laughed, holding Sephiroth down with one arm and whipping something out of his pocket with his other. In an instant, he had shoved the object into Sephiroth's hair and leapt back.

"What did you do!?" Sephiroth roared, pulling himself off the floor and reaching his hands up to feel whatever was in his hair. His eyes widened in horror as he recognised the shape and he hurriedly tried to pull it out.

"Hey! You'll rip your own hair out if you're not careful!" Genesis said, a huge grin _still_ on his face.

"Get it out!" Sephiroth snapped.

"Oh come on, you can do better than that." Genesis folded his arms and smirked.

"...Please, Gen. Take it out of my hair," Sephiroth said slowly through clenched teeth. Genesis' eyes lit up in victory and he stepped forward, reaching a hand out to pull the pretty pink bow that was attached to a clip out of his friends hair.

"Happy?" He asked, still smirking.

"No, not entirely. I have to get my work done by tomorrow afternoon and you've just wasted some of the precious time I was going to use to do it," Sephiroth explained angrily.

"But it was worth it, right?" Genesis asked.

"I'll make up my mind tomorrow. Just please, go remove all evidence of that picture ever existing before I see it again and decide to actually kill you." Sephiroth put a hand to his head and sighed, trying to calm himself down.

"Alright, fine," Genesis said, walking back towards Sephiroth's office. Sitting in the chair, Genesis changed the background and deleted the picture from where it had been saved. Standing again, he called out to Sephiroth that it was now safe to return.

"Thank you," Sephiroth muttered as he walked through the door.

"No problem. Right-ee-o well I have to go check on something so see you later!" Genesis was out the door like a lightning bolt, and Sephiroth only had to glance at the new background on his computer to find out why.

"Genesis!! I swear I'm going to kill you!"

Looking back at his laptop screen, Sephiroth was positive he saw the penguin image laugh.

 


	41. 72. Mischief Managed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Genesis gets back to his apartment to find something he wasn't expecting. What on earth is a chocobo doing there?

It was a Thursday afternoon when Genesis got back from his mission. He opened the door to his apartment and walked in, stifling a yawn behind his hand. Just as he looked up, a horrifying sight met his eyes and he froze, staring at it.

There, in front of him, was a chocobo.

It was only a baby chocobo, but it was a chocobo nevertheless.

It blinked its little eyes and looked up at him, making a small squawking noise in greeting. Genesis could not believe what he was seeing at all. How on earth had a chocobo made it into his, Angeal’s and Sephiroth’s shared apartment? Sephiroth hated them as well and Angeal would never bring one in because of the other two he shared with.

It was only the thud and yelp that came from another room in his apartment that informed him of the fact that there was someone else inside.

Someone who was going to be wishing they weren’t very soon.

Genesis slowly walked around the chocobo, hoping he didn’t disturb it too much and cause it to make a loud noise to alert the intruder of his presence. He cautiously made his way down the hall and towards Angeal’s room where he had heard the yelp, pushing the door open.

As he had thought, there was Zack Fair. He was stuffing straw into a cardboard box as a makeshift bed for the chocobo. He looked up as the door creaked and the expression on his face gave Genesis some satisfaction. At least he knew he was in the wrong and was about to be scolded.

"It wasn't me I didn't do anything I promise I mean I just found it and it looked so sad and cute and lost so I thought you know maybe I should give it a home but if I took it into ShinRa someone would find it and get rid of it before you can say 'chocobo' so I brought it here and used the spare key which Angeal once told me was under the-"

Seeing as Zack didn't plan to shut up any time soon, Genesis pulled his sword out swiftly and used the handle to knock the black-haired SOLDIER on the head. Zack promptly crumpled and lay still, his eyes closed and his mouth open.

That took care of Zack.

Genesis grabbed the cardboard box and carried it out of the room, intending to take it straight out to the bin in order to dispose of it.

He only got halfway to the front door when the chocobo squawked. He paused and turned his head to look sideways at it, where it was also staring up at him with its curious eyes. He stayed motionless for a few moments as he contemplated what he should do about it – he probably shouldn't dump it into the bin along with the cardboard box, after all.

But when the chocobo squawked again he felt something tug on his heart and before he even knew what he was doing he had put the box down and moved over to pick the chocobo up, putting it in amongst the straw where it looked very delighted and comfortable.

"Who knew a chocobo could look so cute," Genesis sighed, shaking his head and gingerly stroking some of its feathers.

Just then the door opened and Sephiroth walked in, arms above his head in a stretch. Genesis quickly stood up and took a step forward to shield the chocobo from view, but he was a moment too late. The General's cat-like eyes had locked onto the offending bird and narrowed instantly.

"Genesis," he murmured dangerously. "I never expected you, of all people."

Genesis then did the only thing he could think of.

He yelled "It was Zack!" and took off out the door.

 


	42. 77. Test

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One of the things Sephiroth had to endure while he was younger, because of who he is. Hojo is stupid.

The temperature began dropping at a fast pace, catching the boy by surprise. He flinched as his body tried to become accustomed to it.

But how could his body get used to a temperature that was constantly decreasing?

His heart-rate sped slightly and he ignored the growing cold, focusing now only on slowing his heart beat. He closed his eyes and concentrated, breathing in and out slowly. Soon his heart was back to it's normal speed and he allowed his mind to acknowledge the other things going on around him.

It was ten times colder than before and still getting colder. He opened his eyes slightly and breathed out slowly. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw the cloud of mist that appeared before his mouth.

He wasn't worried. He knew that if it got too cold for him to handle they would warm him up again and get him out. They only wanted to know how much he could handle, so he was confident with the information that he could make it stop whenever he wanted. He just had to tell them it was too cold for him.

He lay quietly, allowing the cold air to sting his skin slightly as it constantly changed. He felt himself starting to shiver, but ignored it and focused on bringing warmth from inside his body closer to the surface.

He had no idea whether this was actually possible, but it helped him to think that he was doing something other than just lying down waiting for it to become unbearably cold.

Besides, the longer he could stand the cold the happier they would be when he got out.

So he waited, counting the seconds in the back of his mind and acknowledging each minute as it slipped past.

Ten minutes.

Sephiroth reached a hand up and knocked on the roof of the glass capsule he was in. He turned his head to the side so he could see the scientists that stood in the room, all watching his reaction to the cold.

They continued watching. Not even one of them reached for the switch to open the capsule.

Panic began rising in the back of his throat and he knocked again, louder. He saw their eyes flick towards his face, then back to observing the pale colour of his skin and then down to the clipboards in their hands as they wrote something down.

Hojo was standing by the switch, a smug look on his face as he had his arms folded.

It was too cold. Sephiroth squirmed, trying to warm himself up with movement, but his limbs ached and refused to move quickly.

"Hey, open it!" Sephiroth called out, his voice sounding scratchy to his own ears. "Let me out!"

He banged on the side of the glass capsule and winced as tiny slivers of icy pain shot through his hand and up his arm.

Shifting, he realised suddenly that his heart had slowed down considerably and he tried desperately to make it speed up again.

"He's doing well."

Sephiroth's mako hearing picked up on the words which were spoken by Professor Hojo and he turned his head to look at the man, fear and anger in his eyes.

Which, come to think of it, were beginning to glaze over.

He blinked a few times to try to clear his vision, but soon realised that there was nothing wrong with his vision and that the glaze he could see were actually icicles on his eyelashes.

"Please! Let me out!"

Hope stirred within Sephiroth as he saw Hojo shift, but the Professor simply walked over to the capsule and bent down to his level.

"Don't you think you can go a few more minutes?" Hojo asked in his thoroughly annoying voice.

"No! Let me out!" Sephiroth pleaded.

"Sephiroth, try," Hojo ordered.

"I can't!" Sephiroth blinked and a tear wormed it's way out of the corner of his eyes, freezing solid on his skin. His lips were purple and he was shaking quite heavily.

"You're a SOLDIER, Sephiroth. You can do this." Hojo straightened up and began walking back over to where he had been standing before. He turned to look at Sephiroth again, their eyes connecting, and said, "I decide when you come out."

Sephiroth felt his head bang against the capsule a few times during his convulsions, but refused to look away from the man who had raised him; the man who had betrayed him.

What kind of person could watch someone freezing to death and not care?

Sephiroth felt his shudders slowing and for a moment thought that it was becoming warmer, but then realised that he was slipping.

He was slipping into unconsciousness.

He was going to die.

He fought to keep his eyes open so that he could see the look on Hojo's face when he realised he'd killed his subject, but he knew he wouldn't win the fight.

Slowly, he succumbed to the feeling and let his eyes close.

But not before seeing the look of frustration pass over the cruel man's face.

 


	43. 78. Drink

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zack wants to go drinking. He needs a drinking buddy. Everyone's busy. Poor Zack...

"Let's go drinking," Zack said, leaning his elbows on Angeal's desk and propping his head up on his hands. Angeal looked up at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because! I want to," Zack said stubbornly. Angeal sighed and leant back in his chair, folding his arms and staring pointedly at Zack.

"You and I both have work to do," Angeal said firmly.

"I know but-"

"I have to hand this in by the end of the day," Angeal interrupted, gesturing to a pile of papers that sat on his desk.

"What are they for?" Zack asked curiously, peering down at them.

"I'm not sure yet, I haven't gotten through much. I think I just have to sign some pages though," Angeal said, flicking through the pile and then shrugging and leaving it alone.

"Can't you just sign them now then?" Zack asked.

"I have to read everything first," Angeal said.

"Why?" Zack asked, frowning.

"Because if I don't, I might be signing something I don't agree with," Angeal explained. Zack mouthed an 'oh' and then nodded.

"Of course. So can we go drinking?" he asked again.

"Zack, I'm busy," Angeal groaned.

"Fine! I'll go ask Genesis," Zack snapped, standing up properly and heading to the door.

"Genesis has more work than I do," Angeal said before he could leave completely. Zack froze and his shoulders sagged slightly before he pulled himself together again and turned to Angeal once more.

"I'll ask Seph!"

"He's got three times as me."

"Kunsel would-"

"I saw him five minutes ago in the training room. He looked determined not to stop for at least two hours."

"I guess I could ask Lazard..."

"Are you joking!?"

"Well what about Rufus?"

"You want to ask the President's son?"

"Yeah, okay. Cissnei?"

"Zack...."

"What about Spiky!?"

"Who?"

"Cloud!"

"Cloud Strife?" Angeal frowned.

"Yeah! He'd love to come!" Zack nodded enthusiastically.

"Zack, isn't he under-age?" Angeal asked. Zack paused and thought it over for a minute, then beamed.

"The bar down the street allows people from age sixteen!" he said excitedly.

"Zack, Cloud's only fifteen," Angeal pointed out. Zack's grin fell from his face and he stared in devastation at his mentor.

"Then what am I gonna do?" Zack asked.

"Why don't you go finish writing up the report you were supposed to write last week?" Angeal suggested, raising an eyebrow as if challenging Zack to disagree. Zack whined and gave his best kicked-puppy look, clasping his hands in front of him and pleading with his eyes for Angeal to reconsider.

Angeal sighed. "Why is it so important that you go drinking now?" he asked.

"I just want to!" Zack said, his voice still whiny.

"There's no purpose to it," Angeal said, shaking his head.

"But it's nine o'clock at night! It's the perfect time to go drinking!" Zack argued.

"Meaning I wouldn't get my work done," Angeal said. "Why don't you just go by yourself?"

"By myself? Do you have any idea how boring that would be? Besides, drinking alone makes people think you've got issues." Zack folded his arms. Angeal rubbed his temples, trying to make his headache go away.

"Zack, you and I both know I'm not going to say yes," he finally said.

"Not fair!" Zack yelled. "I'm gonna ask Genesis!"

Spinning around, Zack darted out the door before Angeal could stop him. He banged loudly on the door to Genesis' office and once the 'come in' was uttered he pushed it open and walked in.

"Hey Genesis," Zack beamed. Genesis looked up at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Hi, Zack," he replied.

"Let's go drinking," Zack said, leaning his elbows on Genesis' desk and propping his head up on his hands.

"What?" Genesis asked.

"I really wanna go!" Zack said, the whine already beginning to enter his voice.

"Zack, I'm really busy. Why don't you ask Angeal?" Genesis suggested, trying to be helpful.

"I already did! And he's busy too!" Zack exclaimed, stepping away from the desk to throw his hands into the air.

"I see," Genesis said.

"Please, please, please!?" Zack begged.

"I'm sorry, but I have to get this stuff done tonight," Genesis shook his head.

"That's not fair!" Zack said. "Why can't anyone else be like me and not care about the paperwork side of things?"

"You'll understand it more when you're a first class," Genesis said.

"Then someone had better make me a first soon or I'll go nuts not understanding!" Zack said, stomping his foot. "Are you sure you can't come?"

"Zack! Give it up, okay?" Genesis said, slamming his hands down on his desk. "I'm trying to concentrate! Look, I'm sorry, but could you please just go find someone else to ask?"

Zack deflated. His shoulders drooped, his head flopped forward and he slowly slunk towards the door, dragging his feet. Genesis sighed and shook his head.

Once outside, Zack began bouncing again. He hurried over to Sephiroth's office and pounded on the door. A response was mumbled and Zack came hurtling in, all smiles.

"Hey, Seph!" he said happily.

"Hi, Zack," Sephiroth said in a monotone.

"Let's go drinking!" Zack said, leaning his elbows on Sephiroth's desk and propping his head up on his hands. Sephiroth slowly raised his head to look at Zack, and the dark-haired second class SOLDIER took a step back, removing his elbows from the desk.

"Eheh, I was just joking," Zack said, grinning and running from the room.

Sephiroth raised one eyebrow and turned back to his work, not knowing that he had dark circles around his eyes and his hair was a mess. What he did know, however, was that he had been trying to get one pile of work done for two weeks now.

Zack re-entered Angeal's office and came skipping over to his friends desk.

"Zack, what do you-"

"Let's go drinking!"

 


	44. 83. Heal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She hid herself away so that she could die in peace. But she can't walk and now that she knows there's a cure for geostigma, she wants to be found.

She could hear them. The children and adults all heading towards the church to be healed from their geostigma. She could hear their laughter and happiness as the hope they had been holding onto proved to be worth it.

She leant her head back against the wall. No one would find her here. No one would come and bring her to the church to be healed. She had chosen this place specifically so no one could find her and now it was the one thing that made the tears slip down her cheeks.

She had watched her brother die and had believed the same would happen to her. She wanted peace for her final moments, but what did she get?

The knowledge that she was going to die alone in here while listening to the happiness of everyone else being healed.

Her eyes drifted down along her arms which were black with the stigma, and then down to her legs. Her trousers were drenched in the stigma that had come from her own body, and she knew because she had tried before that she could not walk.

She was going to die knowing that there was a cure.

Closing her eyes, she wished for death to take her now so that she wouldn't have to wait around knowing that if only she could walk she would be healed.

The creaking of floorboards made her eyes flutter open in an instant and turn her head to the side to see what was happening. Her eyes widened and she stared.

"Are you coming? You'll be healed!" the boy said, giving her a smile.

"I can't," she croaked, her voice sore from lack of use. The boy frowned and looked down at her legs for a moment before leaving. She felt more tears prick her eyes and tried to ignore the pain of rejection she felt. _Please death... come quickly..._

"Come on! With two of us we can do it!"

A new voice. She looked over with shocked eyes to see the boy returning with someone else. They stood on either side of her and began lifting her up.

"What are you doing?" she asked, almost horrified that she was being helped.

"You'll be healed! You don't have to worry, we'll look after you!" the boy said enthusiastically, walking back towards the door and bringing her out into the light. She was crying steadily now, not believing that these children were delaying their own healing just to help her.

But they were. They brought her with the large group of other people who had the stigma and reached the church, taking her down to the waters were already so many other people were. She felt like she couldn't breathe. She was going to be healed!

The two children carrying her gently laid her down in a shallow part of water and then began splashing each other, screaming and laughing happily.

She looked down at her legs, gasping when she saw the slight green glow that surrounded them and then faded away. She braced herself on one arm and moved her legs, grinning and pushing herself onto her knees. Reaching into the water, she splashed it over herself and laughed aloud when her arms healed before her eyes too.

She had never thought this would happen. She was alive. She could walk.

She was healed.

Letting out a squeal, she got up and ran from the church, searching desperately for more people who had been just like her, unable to walk and hiding somewhere they wouldn't be found by people who didn't have the stigma.

She searched and searched, dripping water everywhere she went and calling out for people to answer her. The city was almost empty now, with so many people in or around the church.

When she returned there once more, she had found someone else who couldn't walk. She carried them in, place them in the water, and shared in their joy as the stigma faded away.

Life was good again. Everyone was happy, talking to people they never would have spoken to before. The healing had brought everyone together, and without the stigma there in the first place it never would have happened.

The girl splashed a new found friend and let out a laugh, loving this feeling of renewal.

Of healing.

 


	45. 86. Seeing Red

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What has Hojo done that's gotten Sephiroth this angry? Sephiroth is a drama king?

"Out of my way," Sephiroth said angrily. Hojo refused to move, although his eyes showed the fear he was feeling.

"Sephiroth, listen to me," he began.

"Move or I'll move you," Sephiroth growled. Hojo nervously shifted from foot to foot, but didn't step out of the General's way.

"It's just a technical difficulty-"

"I'm a piece of technology now!?" Sephiroth roared, shoving Hojo up against a wall in one swift movement. "How dare you insult me that way!"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Hojo whimpered in fear. "Please, I didn't mean it."

"You'd better not have meant it," Sephiroth threatened.

"I didn't," Hojo pleaded. "Honest!"

Sephiroth narrowed his eyes and stared at him for a moment longer before finally releasing him and stepping back. The grey-haired scientist hurriedly moved over to one of his machines, protecting it from Sephiroth as it was what the tall man had been heading for in the first place.

"The closer you stand to it, the easier it will be for me to kill you," Sephiroth said calmly, walking over. Instantly, Hojo had separated himself from his machine and fled to the other side of the room. Sephiroth chuckled sadistically.

"You will pay for this," he said.

"Sephiroth please, I can fix it!" Hojo said quickly, staring in horror at where Sephiroth easily picked up the heavy machine and began stalking him.

"You have ten seconds to outline your plan to me," Sephiroth said, pausing in his movement.

"I'llputyoubackinthatthingandturnitonandyouwon'tfeelathingandinaboutfiveminutesyou'llberightasrainanditwillbefinetrustmeallIneedtodois-"

"Times up," Sephiroth smirked and began walking closer again.

"Hey, Seph?" Genesis poked his head into the room and his eyes widened. He quickly walked in completely and rushed over to Sephiroth, taking his weapon away and putting it back where it was supposed to go.

"Hey!" Sephiroth protested.

"Seph, it happened to me last week. It'll be fine." Genesis said, patting his friend on the shoulder. Sephiroth stared at him as if he'd just been betrayed and then turned to Hojo with a fresh glare. The man cowered.

"Five minutes?" he asked.

"Yes! Yes, five minutes only," Hojo nodded quickly.

"Get to work," Sephiroth ordered. The scientist rushed into action immediately, leading the General over to a different machine and putting something over his head, covering his eyes as well.

"Now, don't worry about not being able to see during the process," Hojo said. "It's only five minutes, as you know."

"I'm counting down," Sephiroth said. Hojo's eyes bulged and he went into hyper-speed.

Genesis watched, leaning against a wall calmly. Sephiroth was _such_ a drama king. Genesis was choosing to forget for the moment that he had thrown such a huge tantrum last week when it happened to him that he had ended up setting fire to Angeal's hair.

Instead, he smirked and watched Hojo rush around like it was life or death. _Seeing as it's Sephiroth, it probably is._

"Two minutes," Sephiroth said.

"Alright, alright," Hojo nodded. "Almost done."

Sephiroth clenched his hands into fists, tensing up as he counted the time down in his head. Genesis mused how anyone could get so worked up simply because they had grown a rabbit's tail. Was it really that horrible?

Again, he was choosing to forget last week.

"Done!" Hojo announced just as Sephiroth snapped, "Times up."

"Great! That wasn't so bad, was it Seph?" Genesis asked, pushing away from the wall and walking over as Hojo took off the machinery from the General. Sephiroth frowned and turned his head to look over his shoulder where the rabbit's tail had been five minutes ago. Then he looked back up at Genesis.

"It happened to you last week?" he asked.

"Yes," Genesis nodded. "I told you it would be fine."

"So _that's_ why Angeal was getting his head treated for burns," Sephiroth said as the information just clicked. Genesis narrowed his eyes.

"If you ever bring that up again-"

"You'll what? Mention that I threatened to kill Hojo?" Sephiroth smirked. Genesis grumbled something under his breath and stormed out of the room angrily. Sephiroth stretched proudly.

"This remains a secret," Sephiroth said to Hojo.

"Of course," Hojo nodded.

"Don't fill any paperwork out on it," Sephiroth added just to be sure. Hojo nodded again. "Good," Sephiroth said, sighing and walking out the door the way his friend had gone.

_All in a days work._

 


	46. 87. Food

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Genesis is trapped and hungry.

Genesis stared around him, eyes wide in disbelief. He couldn't move! A small shaft of light spilled down onto the rock in front of him, and he stared at it, swallowing stiffly to try and dislodge the lump that had formed.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps and looked up. Right above him, he could now see a figure standing there looking down at him. They took one more step forward and the light was blocked out.

"Help! Get me out!" Genesis yelled, shifting so that he could lift one arm and extend it towards whoever was standing above his prison.

"Are you hungry?" the figure asked, slight teasing etched into their voice. Genesis' arm dropped slightly, leaning against the side of the rocky hole.

"Yes! I am. So hungry; weak. Please get me out of here!" Genesis begged.

"I'm not sure that I can do that."

"Why not?" Genesis asked, slight pain to his voice this time.

"Simply because you are trapped completely in a rocky crevasse. I am not strong enough to pull you out. Would you like some food until I can fetch someone else to get you out?"

"Please, yes!" Genesis extended his arm again to its full length, trying desperately to reach the top.

"Here you go," the figure said, bending down slightly.

The figure was holding some food in his hand, doing something to it. Genesis quickly noticed he was tying a rope around it, perhaps so that he didn't drop it past Genesis and have it go to waste.

"Here." The figure let go of the food and dangled it down by the rope, but his attention was elsewhere as he moved over and tied the other end of the rope to something else.

"Wha.. what?" Genesis questioned, watching in astonishment as the figure stood again and walked away. The food dangled just above Genesis' reach. "Wait! Come back!" he yelled, thrashing in his small confinement.

"I'm so.. hungry.." Genesis mumbled, closing his eyes and lowering his head, allowing a small tear to slip out the corner of his eye and slide down his face.

 


	47. 88. Pain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zack takes Cloud to get his ear pierced, whilst educating his friend on which is the proper ear for straight guys to pierce on the way there.

When Zack entered Cloud's room that afternoon the blond knew something bad was going to happen. Zack had an incredibly cheeky expression on his face which clearly showed just how excited he was about something, and from Cloud's experience that could never be good.

"Spiky!" Zack exclaimed happily, clapping him on the back. Cloud didn't respond, thinking that perhaps Zack would forget he was there and leave again.

No such luck.

"C'mon, I wanna take you somewhere," Zack said happily, grabbing Cloud's arm and beginning to lead him to the door.

"Why do I get the feeling something bad is about to happen to me?" Cloud asked with a slight whine in his voice. Zack stopped walking and turned back to face him with wide eyes, almost the size of saucers.

"Don't you trust me?" he asked, horrified.

"No."

"You're no fun!" Zack said with a pout, but then started grinning again anyway. "Spike, I want to take you to get your ear pierced!"

Cloud stared and then began trying to pull away.

"No! Zack, I don't want my ear pierced!" he exclaimed as Zack held on tight.

"Spike, chicks dig it. Totally. They think it's _way_ hot and are bound to fawn all over you," Zack said as he tried to dig his heels into the ground in order to stay where he was and also keep a grip on his friend.

"Are you lying to me?" Cloud asked, drawing his eyebrows together as he stared at Zack intently, pausing in his struggling.

"No! Aerith loves mine!" Zack said.

"Oh." Cloud was silent as he thought over what could possibly happen to him within the next half an hour. It was terrifying. But what if Tifa finally noticed him?

"So, you gonna let me get your ear pierced?" Zack asked again.

"Maybe..." Cloud said, but Zack took it as a yes and was already continuing to drag him out the door again with a huge smile on his face.

On the way there, Zack suddenly became very serious and turned to Cloud.

"Spike, there's one thing you have to make sure you do."

"What's that?" Cloud asked, now even more worried than he was before.

"When you're asked which ear you want to get the piercing in, say you want it in your right ear. If it's in the left ear people will think you're gay," Zack explained, before frowning. "You're not gay, are you?"

"No!" Cloud shouted before calming down and staring at his feet as they continued to walk. "Thanks for letting me know."

"What are friends for?" Zack asked, smacking him on the back and grinning again, an amused twinkle in his eye that hadn't been there before.

Amazingly, it didn't take long before Zack pushed Cloud ahead of him through the door of the piercings shop. Cloud could feel himself trembling and wondered if he was going to make it out of there alive.

"Hey!" Zack called out to the guy behind the desk who had about ten piercings in his own ears. He looked up and then waved them over.

"What can I do for you today?" he asked them.

"My buddy here would like to get an ear piercing!" Zack announced, before manoeuvring Cloud over to a seat and standing back as the man walked over and began to prepare the instruments needed.

"Which ear?" he asked, standing at Cloud's feet and waiting to be told which direction to move.

"M-my right," Cloud said nervously, glancing at Zack to see the encouraging nods of his head.

And the hand covering his mouth in a desperate attempt not to laugh.

"Oh? Coming out with an earring, are you?" the man asked as he moved up to Cloud's right side.

"What do you mean?" Cloud asked curiously, wondering why Zack was acting so weird.

"Uh, you're gay, right?" the man paused.

"What? No! Zack!" Cloud screamed, and Zack finally lost all his self-control. With a loud snort, the black-haired man collapsed onto the floor in laughter at how he had fooled his friend successfully.

"So... you want the left ear I take it?" the man asked with a slight chuckle of his own.

"Yes. I do," Cloud said angrily, folding his arms and pouting. He couldn't believe Zack had embarrassed him so badly in front of a complete stranger! 'What are friends for' he said. What are friends for? They're obviously not for helping you out! If they were, then-

"Ow!" Cloud yelped, hands moving to grip the sides of the chair and eyes widening in horror as he felt a sharp stinging in his ear.

"Oh my gosh!" Zack said from the floor, still laughing. "I was _so_ looking forward to taking you back to ShinRa with an earring in your right ear!"

"There we go, all done," the man who had just pierced Cloud's ear said, moving away and going back to standing behind the desk.

Zack managed to pull himself up and stumble over to the desk, handing over the right amount of gil before dragging Cloud off the chair and out the door, _still_ laughing.

When they got back to ShinRa, Cloud's ear still hurt. But now he wasn't so sure whether it was from the earring – which was a plain silver stud – or Zack's constant laughing which was slowly but surely sending him insane.

"Hey, what happened?"

Suppressing a groan, Cloud waited as Zack gulped for air so that he would be able to explain the situation to his friend Kunsel who had run up at the sound of laughter.

"H-he..." Zack took another gulp of air. "Ear! Pierced. And oh my gosh!"

He didn't get much further than that.

Trudging off in a bad mood, Cloud went back to his room so that he wouldn't have to deal with Zack humiliating him anymore.

So much for girls digging guys with earrings. Zack had just wanted to see whether he could get Cloud to pierce his right ear.

_Well_ , Cloud thought to himself as he sat down on his bed and continued to glare, _Zack had better keep an eye out tomorrow, because something just might happen to humiliate_ him _._

Smiling slightly now that he had thoughts of revenge in his mind, Cloud was able to go about the rest of his day happily and forgot about the pain in his ear, even going so far as to like the look of it when he saw himself in the mirror.

Unfortunately, he was glad Zack had made him pierce his ear.

 


	48. 89. Through the Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sephiroth on his rampage in Nibelheim. He encounters a civilian and deals with them...

"Please! Please, no don't!" The woman screamed, clutching her two-year-old son to her body and sobbing helplessly as she stared at the silver-haired man. He stared back at her, his face blank and emotionless; the complete opposite of hers.

"Why?" he asked simply.

"You can't do this!" she yelled. "It's not right! He deserves a chance at life!"

The silver-haired man frowned slightly and shook his head, before raising his hand and holding it in front of him.

"Don't do it!" she pleaded.

"You're getting on my nerves. I would have left you alone if you hadn't gotten in my way," he explained.

"I don't know how anyone could have seen you as a hero!" she spat, closing her eyes and lowering her head to her softly crying son, trying to soothe him in their last moments.

Sephiroth, 1st Class SOLDIER, faltered. He stared at the tears streaming down the woman's face and understood the pain she was feeling. The words she had said cut into him deeply and he clenched his teeth.

"I _am_ a hero. I am _her_ hero!" he yelled angrily, shooting flames from his hand in an instant.

The woman and her son were engulfed. Sephiroth watched the ash crumble to the ground and then toss and turn with the wind.

How dare that woman? How dare that woman even suggest that he wasn't a hero!?

Sephiroth turned away from the scene and walked through some of the remaining flames, not even noticing them as he headed towards his destination.

To find her.

To be her hero.

 


	49. 92. All That I Have

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Young Gen and Angeal Something has been bothering Genesis, so he decides to ask Angeal about it. A misunderstanding, that's all.  
> Genesis/Angeal friendship

Genesis kicked the tree, his hands in his pockets. He glanced over to where his friend, Angeal, was sitting on the ground staring up at the clouds.

"'Geal?" he said softly.

"Yeah, Gen?" Angeal asked, looking over to meet his gaze.

"D'you reckon I'd make it into SOLDIER too?" he asked.

Angeal paused, staring at his friend and wondering what had brought on this question. It was then he realised he hadn't given a thought to Genesis when he expressed his dream to join SOLDIER and get a chance to use the buster sword which had been passed through his family.

"Sure, Gen! We'll go together," Angeal said, standing and walking over to the red-head.

"You're just saying that," Genesis mumbled, moving away slightly.

"I'm not, Gen. We'll join SOLDIER together, I promise!" Angeal urged.

"But I don't have anything, I won't make it." Genesis shrugged and turned away. "You've got your buster sword and you're really strong. I'm small... I won't make it."

"Hey, don't think that way," Angeal put a hand on Genesis' shoulder, twisting him around to face him. "You'll do fine! Okay?"

"How do you know?" Genesis shrank away from his friend and narrowed his eyes angrily. Angeal sighed.

"Gen, I don't see why you're worried. You'll do fine!" Angeal encouraged him desperately, not liking talking to him when he was upset like this.

"But you know I'm not in perfect health!" Genesis yelled. It looked as if something in him had suddenly snapped. "You know sometimes I can't even stand because it hurts so much! How am I supposed to be a SOLDIER when I've got such an erratic problem!?"

"Gen, I didn't-"

"I don't want you to go off and leave me here by myself! Dad's always so busy being the stupid _mayor_ that he hasn't even noticed there's something wrong with me yet. You're my only friend! Don't leave me behind!" Genesis took a deep breath and let it out shakily, staring at the ground with his hands curled into fists.

"Gen, listen," Angeal said softly. "Maybe the people at ShinRa can help you. But even if they can't I'll still help you do your absolute best to get into SOLDIER. Please Gen, believe me when I say I would _never_ leave you here by yourself."

Genesis looked away, his eyes stinging.

"I'm so sick of it all," he whispered. "How am I supposed to train to be a SOLDIER when at any moment I could collapse in pain?"

"Gen, you've just gotta give it all you've got. If you don't get in and I do, I'll quit," Angeal said. "I'm sorry I never really said anything about you coming, but I honestly never imagined going without you."

Genesis looked over at Angeal again, confusion written all over his face. His hands relaxed and he tilted his head to the side.

"Are you serious?"

"Yes."

Genesis looked down at the ground again and grinned. "Then I guess I'll just have to give them everything I have."

"That's the spirit!" Angeal grinned. "Now c'mon. We'd better go eat those apple pies before they go cold." Genesis looked up at him, a mischievous gleam in his eye, and the two sprinted back to Angeal's house as fast they could in a spur-of-the-moment race.

Genesis smirked as he slipped in the door ahead of his friend. Maybe there was hope for him yet.

He was _faster_.

 


	50. 95. Advertisement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Genesis is a pretty boy.
> 
> Continues in '13. Misfortune'.

Genesis Rhapsodos ducked and watched the apple fly over his shoulder. He turned his head to where Sephiroth stood with yet another apple in his hand, already aiming to throw once more.

"Don't you ever get tired of throwing apples at me?" Genesis asked.

"Not really," Sephiroth shrugged, letting the apple fly from his hand towards his friend. Genesis brought his sword up and the apple struck it, falling to the ground in two pieces.

"Why don't you throw them at Angeal?" Genesis questioned.

"They're _your_ apples," Sephiroth shrugged, reaching to pick up another purple apple from the ground. Genesis sighed, shaking his head with a smile on his face.

"Ah!" He suddenly jumped, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his phone. Sephiroth chuckled at his friends reaction to receiving a message and turned away, beginning to juggle the apples.

"What's it say?" Sephiroth asked casually. He frowned as one apple dropped to the floor.

"Uh, it's from the President," Genesis said. "He says he wants to see me..." Sephiroth chuckled and turned around again, throwing two apples at Genesis. They hit both his shoulders and he winced, stepping back.

"Stop it!" he complained.

"There's nothing else to do around here any more!" Sephiroth retorted.

"Find something to do! Anyway, I'm going to go find President Shinra so he can tell me whatever it is he wants to." Genesis put his sword back in its sheath and walked out of the training room.

Finally reaching the top floor, Genesis stepped out of the lift and walked over to the Presidents office, knocking sharply on the door.

"Come in!" Genesis turned the handle and walked in. Along with President Shinra sitting at his desk, there were two other people standing to the side of the room. They were both holding filming equipment and had headphones around their necks.

"Am I interrupting something?" Genesis questioned curiously, eyeing the two men.

"No, not at all," President Shinra said, standing up. "In fact, these two men are part of the reason why I called you here. You see, I had an idea. We've come to a period of time where we need more SOLDIER's, and what better way to get them than to advertise ShinRa? Don't you agree?"

"Sir, what does this have to do with me?" Genesis asked curiously.

"Isn't it obvious?" the President asked, excitement written all over his face.

"I'm sorry Sir, I'm not connecting the dots very well," Genesis said, shrugging and scratching his head.

"Well listen up! You are a very attractive young man. You already have a fan club at ShinRa, so what would happen if we put you in the limelight? As well as the girls fawning all over you, the boys will want to become like you so that they can impress the girls they like, and they will join ShinRa!" the President explained.

"I... have a fan club?" Genesis asked, and blinked.

"How can you not know? They're huge! They even hand out newsletters to the members!" the President said. "Anyway, enough talk of that. Follow those two and they'll get you ready for your first photo shoot."

"What?" Genesis asked, not believing his ears.

"C'mon," one of the men said, jerking his head to say 'follow' and walking out the door. The other followed him and Genesis found himself tailing behind them. Quickly pulling out his phone, he sent a message to Sephiroth.

'Seph, did you know about the fan club?'

Genesis was led into a room that he'd never even known existed. It was already set up like a studio and there were people everywhere. Some people noticed Genesis and he was immediately grabbed and dragged over in front of the cameras, given poses and told to smile.

"Hey, pull out your sword for a minute." And the instructions continued. He was given stools to sit on and was told which way to stand. Very soon, he found out that his left side was his better side.

When the day was over, Genesis found himself stumbling out of the 'studio' and heading towards the training room. He pulled out his phone to check his messages and found one from Sephiroth that read, 'It took you long enough. Who told you?'.

Walking into the training room and putting his phone away, he looked up to see Sephiroth's sword stabbing into an apple on top of Angeal's head.

"Ah, he returns," Sephiroth said, walking over and picking his sword up before coming over to Genesis. Angeal followed, brushing off the remains of apple from his shirt.

"Uh, yeah. Hi," Genesis mumbled.

"What happened?" Angeal asked.

"Yeah, you look stoned," Sephiroth agreed. "And woah, is that make-up? Gen, are you wearing eye-liner?"

"Crap," Genesis' hand went up in a second to cover his eyes and he turned away.

"Okay, now you're really creeping me out," Angeal said.

"I'm gonna go to bed..." Genesis made his way to the door, attempting to escape quickly. Sephiroth and Angeal exchanged a confused glance, but didn't try and stop him.

The next day, Genesis awoke to snickering. He squeezed his eyes shut tighter, trying to ignore it and go back to sleep. Alas, they were too loud.

"Look at that one! Oh my gosh, he's such a pretty boy!" Sephiroth whispered.

"Who would've guessed?" Angeal chuckled.

"Wha... what are you guys talking about?" Genesis asked, sitting up and rubbing his eyes, looking over at his two friends. Hurriedly, they shoved the flier behind their back.

"Nothing," Angeal said. Genesis scowled and stood up, walking over and snatching it off them. He looked down and his eyes widened in horror.

"How? So... so fast. But they were only... only taken yesterday," Genesis stuttered. Sephiroth smirked and ruffled Genesis' hair.

"You'll get a lot more girls joining the club this way," Sephiroth said. Genesis jerked away from him and smoothed his hair back down.

"Yeah, tell me about that club," Genesis said. "How come I never knew about it?"

"What? You only just found out?" Angeal asked. Genesis' glare became worse than before.

"Come on, we'll tell you at breakfast," Sephiroth said, turning his red-headed friend towards the door and gently patting him on the back. "I'm sure no one but us will notice the photos."

As Angeal walked out behind them, he covered his mouth with a hand to stop from laughing. Sneaky Sephiroth had stuck a sign on Genesis' back saying 'I'm a Pretty Boy – Join My Club'.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Story continues in '13. Misfortune'.


	51. 98. Puzzle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One of Sephiroth's talents.

Sephiroth sat at his desk with all of his paperwork pushed to the side, staring down at something else that was currently occupying his time. His fingers worked quickly and steadily as they picked up small pieces of cardboard and placed them together. He yawned slightly, but his fingers did not falter.

Pick up. Put down. Pick up. Put down. Pick up. Put down.

The pattern continued as Sephiroth slowly managed to put the jigsaw puzzle together. The image that was coming together was a picture of the sky. It was all blue and each puzzle piece looked almost identical.

Sephiroth stretched, standing up from his seat and keeping his eyes on the puzzle he had just completed. His eyes flitted over to the box that the puzzle had come in and they skimmed the number on the side – 10 000.

Sighing and walking over to his door to let himself out of his room, Sephiroth reflected on his childhood and how he had only ever been given things such as jigsaw puzzles to test how quickly his brain worked. The outcome of that was that he had managed to do a ten thousand piece puzzle in five minutes.

Perhaps there were some things he could thank Hojo for, after all.

 


End file.
